Tank cloudy from kalkwasser :(

[Picassoclown]

I would stop the kalkwasser, you don’t need it yet. Have you got another pH test you can use? Even the API liquid one would give you an idea of the true value, a brownish to purple result is ok. What pH probe have you got and is it able to be calibrated?

I will take a ph reading right now and post a picture. Give me a minute.

 

[Picassoclown]

Here is the picture, but I can assure you, the water sample is not purple. My phone is filtering out the real color, which is a blue gray. It is definitely not at 7.6 or higher. It's probably around 7.4, which is what my apex prob is saying. I just ordered a hanna PH tester, but won't arrive until Wednesday.

 

[Garf]

Here is the picture, but I can assure you, the water sample is not purple. My phone is filtering out the real color, which is a blue gray. It is definitely not at 7.6 or higher. It's probably around 7.4, which is what my apex prob is saying. I just ordered a hanna PH tester, but won't arrive until Wednesday.

Can you do the aeration test?

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.htm

 

[Picassoclown]

Can you do the aeration test?

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.htm

Oh wow that's a really interesting article. I have to look into this more. I am going away for the next 2.5 days and won't be able to do this so I shall when I come back. I will measure the PH with the hanna probe and figure out what to do moving forward: if the ph is still below 7.8 I will continue to use the ATO as well as manually dose it until I reach 7.8-8.0. I will than invest in a dosing pump and not go through this chaos again lol.

 

[bnord]

man, I like your aqua scape and with everything you are doing understand your frustration(s) including having to answer the same question over again.

In my experience, an Alk of 10+ and a pH in the mid 7's is hard to pull off. so still question the pH

In my experience even a cloudy Kalk solution delivered via top off would not translate to a cloudy tank, or it would be an alk above 15.

So there is confusion here as well

I agree with the above statement that in your tank's maturity less isomer and better and I would back off the Kalk until your corals, clams start calling for it.

I know you added it to address a bacterial bloom, but that is gone now it seems

bet its all better when you get back, but I would sipon off some of the ATO and replace with RODI, but others may disagree

Bon chance...

 

[Picassoclown]

man, I like your aqua scape and with everything you are doing understand your frustration(s) including having to answer the same question over again.

In my experience, an Alk of 10+ and a pH in the mid 7's is hard to pull off. so still question the pH

In my experience even a cloudy Kalk solution delivered via top off would not translate to a cloudy tank, or it would be an alk above 15.

So there is confusion here as well

I agree with the above statement that in your tank's maturity less isomer and better and I would back off the Kalk until your corals, clams start calling for it.

I know you added it to address a bacterial bloom, but that is gone now it seems

bet its all better when you get back, but I would sipon off some of the ATO and replace with RODI, but others may disagree

Bon chance...

Hey Bnord. Thanks! I appreciate that. Unfortunately I have to keep using kalkwasser because the water where I live is extremely acidic, even after I run it through a 4 stage RO/DI unit. I think the best way forward is to dose it manually with a 5ml syringe from a 5 bucket gallon of kalk mix. Once I get the PH to where it needs to be, the ATO adding in sterile RO/DI water (although acidic) would break even with the water changes that I am doing with Red Sea blue bucket.

 

[1ocean]

Hello 1ocean. Yes, my tank is cloudy from kalkwasser. I do let it settle, but the tank is still cloudy when it gets dosed. Is there anything I can do, besides water changes, to get it a bit more clear?

hmmm. I have never seen a tank get cloudy from dosing clear kalk into the main tank. Oh I think I read your using a ATO to dose kalk...? scary if you are... I dose kalk using a Ecotech vertex doing pump and I dose my RODI using another Ecotech vertex dosing pump so I can control how much gets dosed daily... I calculate my evap and divide it by two and dose equal parts of kalk and rodi..this works for my 300 gallon display tank. I am in the process of making two dosing 5 gallon square dosing containers for kalk and RODI. I got all the 1/4 inch acrylic cut today. I have read horror stories of ato pumps getting stuck open or false reading and dosing the entire container into a tank and causing a nightmare...

 

[NickHolmes]

Could be worse. ATO plumbed into kalkstirrer and didn't turn off

 

[1ocean]

throw the ato pump away , out the window when you drive down the highway....too many people have had rhe same crazy issue like you just had......use a dosing pump...you can control the amount dosed ..

 

[Picassoclown]

hmmm. I have never seen a tank get cloudy from dosing clear kalk into the main tank. Oh I think I read your using a ATO to dose kalk...? scary if you are... I dose kalk using a Ecotech vertex doing pump and I dose my RODI using another Ecotech vertex dosing pump so I can control how much gets dosed daily... I calculate my evap and divide it by two and dose equal parts of kalk and rodi..this works for my 300 gallon display tank. I am in the process of making two dosing 5 gallon square dosing containers for kalk and RODI. I got all the 1/4 inch acrylic cut today. I have read horror stories of ato pumps getting stuck open or false reading and dosing the entire container into a tank and causing a nightmare...

I fully agree with you, I will be dosing manually moving forward to get to the level I need!