garyw
New Member
m.whats up wiyh that sand??y friend showed me that after 6 months his sand bed has been getting very hard.he has a calcium reator going. he also doses with that kalwasser solution.its really hard.any answers??
solid sand bed
- Thread starter garyw
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It could be bacterial or mineral based... Tell him to put some in a bleach solution. It's most likely a result of the kalkwasser and the higher PH is causes helping to trigger some calcium carbonate precipitating in the sandbed.
FishyFarr
Active Member
wow When I first read above post I thought ***put bleach in a tank are you nuts RFLOL
maybe you meant take out the hardened sand and put that in bleach rinse really well then put it back into the tank
boy I gotta quit reading when I am half awake with kids bugging me LOL
maybe you meant take out the hardened sand and put that in bleach rinse really well then put it back into the tank
boy I gotta quit reading when I am half awake with kids bugging me LOL
Fishcrazy06
Reefing Addict
I would think one of two things when you said this. Either the Alk got really high or its due to the Kalk going into the tank. I have seen peoples sand beds due to this due to either one of the above mentioned.
Eric
Eric
ZachB
Community Member
Viva'sReef
Valuable Member
My thoughts are the same, either Bacterial, or Mineral.
Also to answer Fragged it.....people run Kalk while running a Calcium reactor is to keep the PH of the tank more stable and to keep PH a little higher than you could with a Ca reactor. The C02 for the Ca reactor will lower the overall PH in your tank
Also to answer Fragged it.....people run Kalk while running a Calcium reactor is to keep the PH of the tank more stable and to keep PH a little higher than you could with a Ca reactor. The C02 for the Ca reactor will lower the overall PH in your tank
mr_X
Active Member
no. snails and cucumbers won't do anything for this issue.
Fragged_it
Dremel_Master
If the calcium and alkalinity are balanced won't the pH fall into place?
How does kalk effect alkalinity?
High Alk will do this to your sand bed. I've had experience with this over the summer when I had an Alk spike, and noticed "clumps" of sand here and there. And if you have sps be careful....I lost the majority of my montis when my alk got that high.
Kalkwasser is a balanced calcium and alkalinity additive. PH has nothing to do with calcium. Lastly, PH is greatly effected by carbon dioxide levels and that's usually the reason for low PH in aquariums and it's absolutely the reason for low PH from a calcium reactor.
How high are you talking? You'd have to go crazy with additives to get alkalinity high enough to kill montiporas and other SPS. High alkalinity in and of itself won't cause the sandbed to clump, but it can make precipitation more likely...
check out this article http://advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2003/chem.htm
under the heading :Effect of Magnesium on the Calcium/Alkalinity Balance in Aquaria
thats what I took it to mean in the past, could be way off though
oh: check out this article http://advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2003/chem.htm
under the heading :Effect of Magnesium on the Calcium/Alkalinity Balance in Aquaria
thats what I took it to mean in the past, could be way off though
I've read the article and while it could be a factor I just don't think low magnesium is "usually" the problem. In many instances I'd say magnesium levels are fine when this happens. Precipitation will occur at various magnesium levels, but yes, low magnesium levels could encourage precipitation...
