diabolical_clownfish
Active Member
I've had an issue with my tank - been doing some research, and I'm pretty sure I figured out the problem, but still wanted to make a post to sanity check as well as to provide a reference to others since I haven't seen this exact combination of keywords.
I made a post a few months ago since I noticed that my alkalinity drops very fast yet my calcium level barely dips. So for a while, I have been dosing baking soda for alk and not testing calcium that much.
This, however, has changed recently, and two weeks ago I tested my calcium at a very low 280. This prompted me to do the following:
- Two water changes to bring up the calcium from 280 to 360.
- Switch to All-for-Reef for both alkalinity and calcium (have a 35 gallon tank and a single doser, figured this was the easiest solution)
However, after a week of AFR, my calcium level was still not up to my target of 420. I read online that AFR is good for maintaining a level, but if the calcium level is severely off, I needed to compensate some other way. I remembered that I won a bottle of Seachem Calcium from a frag swap some months ago, and figured why not make use of it. My calculation:
- Water volume ~25 gallon
- Raise calcium from 360 to 420
- Needed to dose 25 capfuls of Seachem Calcium (125 mL, or 25 cap fulls)
- Instructions says not to dose more than 3 cap fulls per day for every 20 gallons.
This is where things went wrong. After 3 days of dosing 3 cap fulls (morning, noon, night), I noticed:
- My alkalinity went up to 14.5 (tested on Day 4)
- Starting day 2, my filter floss is clogging all the time, with a clear substance - presumably calcium carbonate precipitant
- Starting on day 3, a white stringy substance started to appear in the tank, some surrounding corals, others originating from the rocks. I initially thought it was hair algae dying. Then thought coral mucus, then thought a bacteria bloom (overall water is not cloudy)
- My cleaner shrimp is dead after a year (this morning), other fish and corals seem ok
With these symptoms, my conclusion is that Seachem Calcium will add alkalinity as well and I effectively overdosed alkalinity with the combination of AFR and Seachem. What I should have done was to buy some BRS Calcium Chloride. As for the white substance, I believe it is caused by the polygluconate (a sugar) in the Seachem.
Now, my question:
- What is the white stringy substance floating around and what do I do with it? If it's bacteria, perhaps UV?
- How do I lower alkalinity back to normal levels? 1) Just stop all dosing and let it drop naturally? 2) big water change? (seems like a bad idea to double shock the tank).
The death of the cleaner shrimp makes me a bit uneasy but still planning to wait it out and just let levels drop naturally, as my remaining fish seem fine and the corals are open (just not fully extended).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I made a post a few months ago since I noticed that my alkalinity drops very fast yet my calcium level barely dips. So for a while, I have been dosing baking soda for alk and not testing calcium that much.
This, however, has changed recently, and two weeks ago I tested my calcium at a very low 280. This prompted me to do the following:
- Two water changes to bring up the calcium from 280 to 360.
- Switch to All-for-Reef for both alkalinity and calcium (have a 35 gallon tank and a single doser, figured this was the easiest solution)
However, after a week of AFR, my calcium level was still not up to my target of 420. I read online that AFR is good for maintaining a level, but if the calcium level is severely off, I needed to compensate some other way. I remembered that I won a bottle of Seachem Calcium from a frag swap some months ago, and figured why not make use of it. My calculation:
- Water volume ~25 gallon
- Raise calcium from 360 to 420
- Needed to dose 25 capfuls of Seachem Calcium (125 mL, or 25 cap fulls)
- Instructions says not to dose more than 3 cap fulls per day for every 20 gallons.
This is where things went wrong. After 3 days of dosing 3 cap fulls (morning, noon, night), I noticed:
- My alkalinity went up to 14.5 (tested on Day 4)
- Starting day 2, my filter floss is clogging all the time, with a clear substance - presumably calcium carbonate precipitant
- Starting on day 3, a white stringy substance started to appear in the tank, some surrounding corals, others originating from the rocks. I initially thought it was hair algae dying. Then thought coral mucus, then thought a bacteria bloom (overall water is not cloudy)
- My cleaner shrimp is dead after a year (this morning), other fish and corals seem ok
With these symptoms, my conclusion is that Seachem Calcium will add alkalinity as well and I effectively overdosed alkalinity with the combination of AFR and Seachem. What I should have done was to buy some BRS Calcium Chloride. As for the white substance, I believe it is caused by the polygluconate (a sugar) in the Seachem.
Now, my question:
- What is the white stringy substance floating around and what do I do with it? If it's bacteria, perhaps UV?
- How do I lower alkalinity back to normal levels? 1) Just stop all dosing and let it drop naturally? 2) big water change? (seems like a bad idea to double shock the tank).
The death of the cleaner shrimp makes me a bit uneasy but still planning to wait it out and just let levels drop naturally, as my remaining fish seem fine and the corals are open (just not fully extended).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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