white crusted glass

Wiz · Oct 15, 2016

Okay so I nailed down the amounts of kalk and alk out that I am adding. It is much more than I expected it to be. I will also know that my magnesium is a bit high right now for what reason I am not sure. I was first dosing in my refugium As that is where the flow is the best.After a few days I started to get a white crust on the top of the glass Which I'm assuming was precipitation. It is extremely hard to get off and comes back the next day.The flow is very strong which confused me as to why it would collect at the top of the glass and nowhere else in my system.I moved the dosing to my sump. The sump is now getting the same white precipitation on the glass the heater And the Plexi.Oddly though the refugium is still getting the Crust every day. And the display shows no sign at all. This is odd because in order for the water to get to the refugium it must travel through the display. That would leave me to believe that the display should be showing the same white crust but it is not. I have never had this issue before and the only thing that I can think of is the Magnesium is higher than it ever has been. The calcium and alkalinity levels are exactly the same as they were before I upgraded.Any idea as to why this is happening and how I can stop it?

Calc 440
Alk 10
Mag 1500

Cory · Oct 15, 2016

I wouldnt think magnesium would precipitate on glass. Is this the tank lid or inside the tank?

Wiz · Oct 15, 2016

It is about 2 or 3 inches of glass starting just below the waterline actually maybe right at the waterline. That is in the refugium. in the sump, it is all of the glass and the heater

Cory · Oct 15, 2016

Wiz said:
It is about 2 or 3 inches of glass starting just below the waterline actually maybe right at the waterline. That is in the refugium. in the sump, it is all of the glass and the heater

Ok what id do is scrap some off with razor blade. And put a sample in some acid like vinegar and see if it bubbles then youll know if its calcium based or not. If its on the heater too its likely precipitation of calcium/alk mixed to form rock

Wiz · Oct 15, 2016

I will give that a shot. Magnesium or alkalinity will not bubble?

Cory · Oct 15, 2016

Wiz said:
I will give that a shot. Magnesium or alkalinity will not bubble?

Magnesium carbonate iirc will bubble too. But at least you know its not orgaics then.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 16, 2016

Wiz said:
Okay so I nailed down the amounts of kalk and alk out that I am adding. It is much more than I expected it to be. I will also know that my magnesium is a bit high right now for what reason I am not sure. I was first dosing in my refugium As that is where the flow is the best.After a few days I started to get a white crust on the top of the glass Which I'm assuming was precipitation. It is extremely hard to get off and comes back the next day.The flow is very strong which confused me as to why it would collect at the top of the glass and nowhere else in my system.I moved the dosing to my sump. The sump is now getting the same white precipitation on the glass the heater And the Plexi.Oddly though the refugium is still getting the Crust every day. And the display shows no sign at all. This is odd because in order for the water to get to the refugium it must travel through the display. That would leave me to believe that the display should be showing the same white crust but it is not. I have never had this issue before and the only thing that I can think of is the Magnesium is higher than it ever has been. The calcium and alkalinity levels are exactly the same as they were before I upgraded.Any idea as to why this is happening and how I can stop it?

Calc 440
Alk 10
Mag 1500

Adding limewater will cause local precipitation onto surfaces, even when added slowly. Higher water flow and turbulance and turnover with the main tank, as well as lower addition rates will reduce it. This is what my deliver point looked like:

What is that Precipitate in My Reef Aquarium? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/index.htm

from it:

Figure 4. When limewater drips onto surfaces, such as the sides of a sump, precipitation of calcium carbonate takes place. The off-white coloration probably comes from metals such as iron binding to the calcium carbonate surface in the place of calcium.

Wiz · Oct 16, 2016

Thanks. So if I slow the drip, stagger the 2 chemicals (one in am, one in pm) and add a maxi jet to the drip area. Sound good?
And is there a soak that will remove it from my heater?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 16, 2016

That sounds like a good plan. Vinegar or other acid can dissolve it.

Wiz · Oct 16, 2016

For a heavy crusted heater, how muchvinegar to water?

tcarter1936 · Oct 17, 2016

I've always used pure vinegar

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 17, 2016

Yes, pure vinegar or 10 parts water plus 1 part muriatic acid. The latter is much faster, but you need to deal with muriatic (hydrochloric) acid, which can burn you.

Wiz · Oct 17, 2016

So I am guilty of negligence. I didn't test for two weeks. Thinkin my numbers were right cuz they tested great 4 days consecutively.
Well I started vinegar cleaning my heater and pumps because my re turn pump stopped last night. Kind of glad it did because the magnet on the Propeller has a crack going down the side and needs to be replaced. But anyway. My mag and calc dropped considerably and my alk skyrocketed. Which Explains why my Elegans does not look so hot.
Calc went from 450 to 375
Mag from 1550 to 1340
Alk from 9.9 to 15.7!

So I will be correcting these and testing bi weekly for a while! Oddly my salinity went a notch higher too. Cant explain that one.
1.026 to 1.027.

Man, rookie mistake!