white precipitation w/ b-ionic

[vanessa]

I bought some B-ionic yesterday to dose my tank and when I added the first soln this white precipitation occurs throughout the water like it's snowing in my tank...is that normal? When I dosed my other tank I don't see the snow like particles. Any ideas if this is not normal for B-ionic? :|

[tinyreef]

actually, it is normal. it just means your tank's at a high alk level already. if the Part 1 was more smoky or foggy than the bionic is just doing its job propping up the alk and dispersing. the snow effect is likely because the alk is already close to saturation or if you add Part 2 too quickly afterwards.

 

i would either backoff on the Part 1 or switch to a solo calcium supplement for a while. go back to the b-ionic less frequently, is all. hth

[vanessa]

so if my alk is high then could I just use the second part of the b-ionic without having to put in the first? Or does it always have to be add bottle 1 first then bottle 2?

[tinyreef]

you could but it kinda defeats the purpose of the bionic and screws up your supply. i think custom aquatics sells the different Parts separately (i don't know anyone else that does). if your alk is ok then i would switch to a solo calcium supplement like kalk or CaCl. kalk might be the better one but CaCl is sooo much easier to use.

 

if you switch, just dose periodically with the bionic to 'test' your levels. the correct way is to actually test using test kits but i'm a lazy bastage! hth

[vanessa]

I bought a test kit of pH and alkalinity and the pH is 8.6 how do you lower pH? I know there are chemicals you can buy but is there a way you can do it with say just water changes? The alkilinity is also high...it's 300. Water changes? I change my water every weekend about 10%.

[tinyreef]

you might want to go with the CaCl instead then. your pH could withstand the depression from the CaCO3 & HCl. kent's turbo calcium is pure CaCl. using kalk would just jack your pH even higher.

 

wc's can do it too. satch mentions aerating your change water. ime tho this drives the pH down from CO2 introduction. fresh wc's are usually high, aerating or letting it sit and soak up CO2 should drop the pH.

 

now i don't think 8.6 pH is all that much to worry about tho. i try and maintain higher alk (linked to pH) all the time. tangster on about.com has a current thread where it discusses this. don't worry about the pH as much as worry about the alk is his opinion. (paraphrasing) i kinda agree, the pH is an easier indicator tho imo as the alk (depending on the test kit) can be masked by other elements. (see carbonate thread in Advanced) hth