white crust

[johnebo]

I understand from Larry you are the man to ask about water problems. I have a 4 month old 55 gal. reef tank, that keeps getting white crust on glass and plastic, and impellers stop working and won't restart. MY LFS wants the Cal. to be at 35, 35 what I don't know. She told me to add Kalk. as the water evaporated. She said it would be alright to pour it in a half a cup every several hours, since I don't have means to drip it in. I mix the 4 Tsp. of the Kalk with 2 Gal. ro water, wait at least 2 hrs., then start pouring. I also add Kent Cal liquid 4 capfulls 2 hrs. after the Kalk. The Kalk is so much cheaper, but that is when the problems started, she says the Kalk can't be the problem. Please help, I don't know what to do.
John E.

[JazzMan]

Salt Creep???

[johnebo]

To hard for salt, kills impellers. sp 1.023, either to much cal. or the way I'm adding Kalk. I really don't know , need help, I would think salt would be at evaporation areas, IE top of tank.

[polyp]

Hi,

(I think you might want to re-post this question in the chemistry forum, and also look around there, as you might find more information there which may be related to your problem at hand.)

It sounds like you're getting pretty bad advice from your LFS, which isn't unheard of. It's happend to a lot of us.

The first thing to do is to stop dumping kalkwasser in your tank. Pouring in half a cup of saturated kalk to a 55 gallon tank every few hours is going to shock the inhabitants very badly and may very well cause other dramatic and negative reactions in your water chemistry. Kalwasser is a good thing, but not all at once - you'll have to drip it in and keep a close eye on your pH.

Second, I believe there was a miscomunication with your LFS concerning a water parameter which should ideally be kept around "35"... It's most likely she was refering to units of salinity.

Based on how often it seems you're adding calcium hydroxide (kalkwasser) and calcium chloride (liquid calcium), you're probably causing a very large amount of calcium carbonate to percipitate from solution (which is what the white crust *might* be and what may very well be jamming up and freezing your impellers).

There are three test kits you should purchase immediately if you don't already have them: calcium, alkalinity, and pH (and perhaps you need a hydrometer or the equivalent as well? i.e. a conductivy meter or a refractometer). I use Salifert test kits for the chemisty myself. Ask around in the chemistry forum and see what the forum moderator, Randy, and others there prefer to use. Also, read his articles on Alkalinity and Calcium in the online Advanced Aquarist magazine - these articles will help clear up any confusion you may have.

Good luck!