achit
New Member
Hello everyone,
I recently decided to take the plunge into keeping a nano reef. I am a bit new to the hobby, having (poorly) kept a freshwater setup many many years ago. But times have changed, and after doing much research, I felt that I was ready to take up this new challenge. What could possibly go wrong this time !!!
I went out and bought myself a shiny new Boyu TL-550, which seems to be a popular choice for a lot of people here (so excited to be a part of the club !!) Took the advice of what was suggested here, removed the ceramic rings, bioball, and that big black filter sponge thing at the back. Got all my test kits and salt mix, and was ready to go !
Well, unfortunately, I seem to have stumbled a bit on the very first and most basic step, mixing my seawater. Now, first I think I should mention that I am facing a unique challenge in my quest to build my first reef. I live out in the middle of the desert (I'm an expat living in Dubai, U.A.E to be exact). Now, there is a serious problem with availability of equipment in this area. For example, the option of using Aragonite sand is just not available for me, it has to be either Crushed Coral or bare bottom. Also, neither is the option of using RO/DI water. The only RO/DI units I can find here are industrial scale, costing over $5,000 and can make enough water to service a small city. Similarly, distilled water just isnt available in any supermarkets. Most aquarium stores here use conditioned tapwater, or just use seawater.
So back to my problem. Im a little worried about heavy metal contamination from the tapwater here since it sits in copper pipes which are god know how corroded. I decided to try using bottled water. The brand I'm using is essentially RO seawater that has been made fit for drinking. I have the water composition with me here somewhere....i just cant seem to find it atm for some reason, but it seems to be fairly ok.
The problem is when I mix my Instant Ocean brand salt (as a note, the batch that i got seemed to have absorbed quite a bit of moisture and was hard as a rock) into the water, even after vigorously stirring, putting in a big powerhead, and leaving it in the bucked for more than 48 hours, the water is thick and murky. There is a white precipitate, which im pretty sure is Calcium Carbonate, which is choking up my water. I have read that this is a common problem, and usually clears up after a while. However, the sheer amount of precipitate I am getting (both larger particles which are settling in the bottom, and fine suspended particles) makes me believe that there is something wrong.
Anyhow, I was wondering if anyone had any idea as to why this is happening. I later tried the same thing with tapwater, and I still get a thick chalky precipitate. This is quite disheartening to have run into trouble so early on. The LFS here uses tapwater, and a different brand of salt, and claims to have no problems. I tested the pH of the chalky water, and it seems to be between 7.8 and 8.2 (im still figuring out how to use the kits, its really hard to make out the color differences sometimes, maybe another brand kit is in order). I tried using an aquarium pH reducing solution in my tank, and the precipitate cleared up right away. After retesting my pH, I expected the acid to have lowered my pH, but I was shocked to see that the acid is actually *increasing* my water pH (the acid lower the pH of freshwater, as advertized however). So I am thoroughly confused as to what is going on here.
I apologize for the long rambling post. Hopefully its not too much of a wall of text for people to read. Does anyone have any idea of this strange phenomenon ??
I recently decided to take the plunge into keeping a nano reef. I am a bit new to the hobby, having (poorly) kept a freshwater setup many many years ago. But times have changed, and after doing much research, I felt that I was ready to take up this new challenge. What could possibly go wrong this time !!!
I went out and bought myself a shiny new Boyu TL-550, which seems to be a popular choice for a lot of people here (so excited to be a part of the club !!) Took the advice of what was suggested here, removed the ceramic rings, bioball, and that big black filter sponge thing at the back. Got all my test kits and salt mix, and was ready to go !
Well, unfortunately, I seem to have stumbled a bit on the very first and most basic step, mixing my seawater. Now, first I think I should mention that I am facing a unique challenge in my quest to build my first reef. I live out in the middle of the desert (I'm an expat living in Dubai, U.A.E to be exact). Now, there is a serious problem with availability of equipment in this area. For example, the option of using Aragonite sand is just not available for me, it has to be either Crushed Coral or bare bottom. Also, neither is the option of using RO/DI water. The only RO/DI units I can find here are industrial scale, costing over $5,000 and can make enough water to service a small city. Similarly, distilled water just isnt available in any supermarkets. Most aquarium stores here use conditioned tapwater, or just use seawater.
So back to my problem. Im a little worried about heavy metal contamination from the tapwater here since it sits in copper pipes which are god know how corroded. I decided to try using bottled water. The brand I'm using is essentially RO seawater that has been made fit for drinking. I have the water composition with me here somewhere....i just cant seem to find it atm for some reason, but it seems to be fairly ok.
The problem is when I mix my Instant Ocean brand salt (as a note, the batch that i got seemed to have absorbed quite a bit of moisture and was hard as a rock) into the water, even after vigorously stirring, putting in a big powerhead, and leaving it in the bucked for more than 48 hours, the water is thick and murky. There is a white precipitate, which im pretty sure is Calcium Carbonate, which is choking up my water. I have read that this is a common problem, and usually clears up after a while. However, the sheer amount of precipitate I am getting (both larger particles which are settling in the bottom, and fine suspended particles) makes me believe that there is something wrong.
Anyhow, I was wondering if anyone had any idea as to why this is happening. I later tried the same thing with tapwater, and I still get a thick chalky precipitate. This is quite disheartening to have run into trouble so early on. The LFS here uses tapwater, and a different brand of salt, and claims to have no problems. I tested the pH of the chalky water, and it seems to be between 7.8 and 8.2 (im still figuring out how to use the kits, its really hard to make out the color differences sometimes, maybe another brand kit is in order). I tried using an aquarium pH reducing solution in my tank, and the precipitate cleared up right away. After retesting my pH, I expected the acid to have lowered my pH, but I was shocked to see that the acid is actually *increasing* my water pH (the acid lower the pH of freshwater, as advertized however). So I am thoroughly confused as to what is going on here.
I apologize for the long rambling post. Hopefully its not too much of a wall of text for people to read. Does anyone have any idea of this strange phenomenon ??
to the salty side and 
I'm pretty excited about the whole thing, this being my first real try at keeping an aquarium (my disaster with a freshwater setup was almost 10 years ago and I was very clueless back then). I think the moisture getting into my old batch of salt was causing a lot of problems. I hope this other brand of salt that I have will work better. Its what my LFS uses (along with conditioned tapwater), and he claims to have no problems. 
)
. I will keep this thread update with any progress, and hopefully even have a few pictures of the tank in once I get it to stop looking like there was a snowstorm inside it. 
