whats causing precipitation? Plz help

[eagleeye6977]

heres my info. kh-7, cal-300, ammonia-0, nitrite-0, nitrate-0, ph(8.2-8.4) hard to tell with test, sg-1.026, temp-80. Im using ro/di water. I have a 45 gallon nano. I do 5% wc every 2 weeks, and levels are still at 0 which is good. low bio-load! The only think i have add was chemi-clean for cyan. Once i used baking soda because i noticed my ph was always low around 7.8, and i recently added 1/4 cup epsom salt thinking my mag maybe low. I dont have a test yet. I just ordered one. I also recently ran a hose to the garage for fresh air to my skimmer. Now my ph is between 8.0 and 8.4. My question is based on the info provided what do you guys think could be the cause for the constant white specks floating around in my tank.

im also using red sea salt

forgot to mention i have a reef tank with a few leather corals and one duncan whisker.

[Mariaface]

Do the magnesium test. Stop chasing pH, especially now that you know it's an oxygen issue. Let it be an indicator of oxygen levels or something decaying and causing bacteria to work overtime, but don't try to change it directly.

 

Are you using Red Sea's blue bucket, or RSCP salt (black bucket)?

 

If you have cyano, that's probably indicative of high nutrients and high bioload - dose a bacterial supplement, vacuum your substrate, baste the rocks, and basically increase tank husbandry so that cyano doesn't have a chance to take hold.

 

Once you know what magnesium is, use a magnesium supplement (your epsom salt may not be pure enough and you need to know what else you're adding to your tank) to bring it to the correct level. 1325ppm or so? Then use calcium/alkalinity supplements to bring those up to whatever you'd like to see. Magnesium is crucial in keeping calcium and alkalinity from precipitating.

 

Baking soda likely brought up alkalinity further than the tank could handle, and may have caused the beginning of the precipitation.

 

Good luck!

[eagleeye6977]

thanks for the response. I believe i have the cyan under control. i have been vaccuuming it out and it hasnt grown back. Now that i think about it i believe you maybe right. My tank was fine, just going through the early stages with ugly algaes and everything but water was clear then i got bored which was probably where i made my mistake and started trying to up my ph and added the baking soda. thats when the problems started. by the way i use the blue bucket reef salt. what do you suggest? do you think it would be best to leave my ph were it was orginally at 7.8 or leave the air hose which goes outside as far as preventing possible future precip? im also ordering a mag test soon. which supplements do you suggest i try?

im also going to do a large water change tommorrw. Hopefully that will help clear it up.

[Mariaface]

thanks for the response. I believe i have the cyan under control. i have been vaccuuming it out and it hasnt grown back. Now that i think about it i believe you maybe right. My tank was fine, just going through the early stages with ugly algaes and everything but water was clear then i got bored which was probably where i made my mistake and started trying to up my ph and added the baking soda. thats when the problems started. by the way i use the blue bucket reef salt. what do you suggest? do you think it would be best to leave my ph were it was orginally at 7.8 or leave the air hose which goes outside as far as preventing possible future precip? im also ordering a mag test soon. which supplements do you suggest i try?

im also going to do a large water change tommorrw. Hopefully that will help clear it up.

 

Any time!

 

Blue bucket is great! It's got an alk level that you should try to maintain, and water changes won't cause alk drops/spikes if you dose according to usage.

 

Personally, I prefer the hose to the outside - oxygen is important, and is needed by most of the organisms in your tank (fish, coral, macros, bacteria, etc). If you have a higher oxygen level to begin with, you have more leeway if things go wrong. There's more time to fix issues, bacterial colonies can better respond to unexpected ammonia spikes, etc.

 

As far as supplements, I suggest BRS' two part supplements. They're good stuff, and ordering dry supplements is more cost effective than the liquid ones. If you can afford it, get the dosers! Or pick up a Jebao DP-4. Automating the dosing process makes life so much easier, and then it's just a matter of testing weekly/bi-weekly/monthly to see if alk/cal/mag are still on track.

 

Which test kit did you order?