Neptune Aquatics

It was a white-out.

RavieReefer

RavieReefer

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So the other day I get home from work and my husband & daughter let me know that my tank had turned white. Not a pure white, but it was hazy, like when you stir things up a bit. By the time I was home, it looked fine to me. Told him next time to take a picture.

I'm thinking it was precipitation of calcium. At that time my pH was only 8.36. My tank does not have a high demand for Cal and Alk, so I am able to maintain good concentrations with the addition of Kalk via ATO. I tested the 3 elements I know to play a part in the precipitation. They are as listed...

9/8/09
pH - 8.36
Cal - 430
KH - 8.45
Mag - 1380

My prior levels known are...
9/3/09
Cal - 425
kH - 8.45
Mag - 1395

I was looking for a drop in the Calcium & Alkalinity level, but yet I do not see one (although my Alkalinity was the same when I do expect it to slowly climb with the Kalk). My Magnesium is at an adequate level to help prevent (tested with Salifert and confirmed with Elos.

What does precipitation in the tank look like? Do you suspect that is what possibly happened, or do you think something else? :|
 
When things have precipitated in my water change buckets, it looked like it was snowing :)
Is it possible at all that something (or things) may have spawned, or you had a bacterial bloom of some sort?
 
Well precipitation definitely can give you a white cloudy look in the tank, but so can a spawning event as well, I've never witnessed coral or clam spawning, so I can't say first hand what they look like in a tank, I have seen both urchins and snails squirt "reef chowder" into the tank in such numbers that it has made my 180g tank noticeably cloudy.
 
Its really amazing how much goo those guys can shoot out, I only had maybe 4 of the trochus snails in my tank, but 180g got cloudy quite easily.
 
White outs...they are scary when you have never had them before (and even when you have lol). Here is my spawn chowder (that sounds sick...)

img_3971copy.jpg
 
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