Does Calcium matter? Tank still cloudy :(

[citymouse]

Does the calcium level in a non reef tank matter? and if so, what should it be in a fish only tank?
I can't find this info online, all articles talk about reef tanks, what corals need etc etc.

I still have a cloudy tank with no explanation. All parameters are good, established tank for the last year, no changes to cause a re-cycle, no issues so far at all. Did a water change and the water got cloudy,, it's been just over a week and it's still cloudy. I do have a bit of algae, but prior to the water change the tank was clear/normal.

So I tested calcium, but I have no idea why it matter! No corals, just 2 clowns, 1 snail and maybe 10 hermits in a 215g.

Tested my RODI water too, nothing wrong there, also filled a clear glass container to see if that water was the culprit, but it was crystal clear.

Amm -0, Nitrite-0, Nitrate-0 PH 7.8, Cal-360
KH was low last week at 6, I added baking soda for 2 days and it was up to 8, 3 days later I'm now at 9 (higher than normal).

 

[Jackony]

What about Mg?

 

[ZoWhat]

It matters to keep LR alive and being a biological filter with good bacteria growing on it.

It matters but not ultra crucial to keep 420ppm

Just enough Calc, Alk and Mag to keep LR happy to grow not only good bacteria but living organisms like copepods

I'm not a biologist but cakc may play a role in nitrogen cycling as well.



.

 

[citymouse]

What about Mg?

MG? I don't have a test for that one..how many tests are there??

 

[citymouse]

It matters to keep LR alive and being a biological filter with good bacteria growing on it.

It matters but not ultra crucial to keep 420ppm

Just enough Calc, Alk and Mag to keep LR happy to grow not only good bacteria but living organisms like copepods



.

Do you know the right numbers for that? my previous tank was 75g, full of live rock that stayed beautiful for 7 years until I sold it. I never tested for calcium or Kh...just the basics like ammonia and nitrate occasionally. Also never had corals in there either.

 

[ZoWhat]

 

[Jackony]

With out enough Mg the Ca will precipitate out of your salt water. It’s happened to me and the water looks a bit cloudy as Ca is solidifying and falling out of the water solution. Your water should have about 400 Ca, 1300 Mg and 8.5 Alk to balance and make a stable mix of salt water.

 

[citymouse]

It matters to keep LR alive and being a biological filter with good bacteria growing on it.

It matters but not ultra crucial to keep 420ppm

Just enough Calc, Alk and Mag to keep LR happy to grow not only good bacteria but living organisms like copepods

I'm not a biologist but cakc may play a role in nitrogen cycling as well.



.

 

[citymouse]

I just found this chart, which was good because I do not have corals.
My tank meets all of these requirements, well, the ones I have tests for. Only 3 of them I don't do. My PH is steady at 7.8-7.9, that never changes one way or the other in any of my tanks. I have the API test kit and the big tank has the Apex Fusion which has probes testing PH, salinity, Temp and ORP

Oh and iodine and strontium?

 

[citymouse]

I just found this chart, which was good because I do not have corals.
My tank meets all of these requirements. The only thing I can't test is MG because I don't have the test kit.

With out enough Mg the Ca will precipitate out of your salt water. It’s happened to me and the water looks a bit cloudy as Ca is solidifying and falling out of the water solution. Your water should have about 400 Ca, 1300 Mg and 8.5 Alk to balance and make a stable mix of salt water.

How did you fix it? I'm about to do another water change soon and hook up a carbon reactor (which was always my plan, unrelated to the recent cloudy water issue).

 

[Jackony]

I only was able to determine the issue by testing Alk, Ca and Mg. You would see Ca and Mg at very low levels. 1/2 or less than normal is where mine were.

Actually this happened to me 2 times. 1st time- I got lazy testing. I had been adding 2 part Ca and Alk additives- those levels stayed pretty much on target but I was not keeping in balance with Mg. At a certain thresh hold too low Mg will cause Ca to precipitate amount of the solution.

2nd time- the salt I bought was bad. I made 150 gallons of salt water, when water looked a bit cloudy and off I pulled out all my test kits and discovered very low Ca and extremely low Mg. BRS suggested the Mg was so low in salt mix that it caused Ca to precipitate out of solution leaving Both test results very very low.

 

[citymouse]

I only was able to determine the issue by testing Alk, Ca and Mg. You would see Ca and Mg at very low levels. 1/2 or less than normal is where mine were.

Actually this happened to me 2 times. 1st time- I got lazy testing. I had been adding 2 part Ca and Alk additives- those levels stayed pretty much on target but I was not keeping in balance with Mg. At a certain thresh hold too low Mg will cause Ca to precipitate amount of the solution.

2nd time- the salt I bought was bad. I made 150 gallons of salt water, when water looked a bit cloudy and off I pulled out all my test kits and discovered very low Ca and extremely low Mg. BRS suggested the Mg was so low in salt mix that it caused Ca to precipitate out of solution leaving Both test results very very low.

I was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with my salt, does it get old? I was thinking because it's at the bottom of the bucket that I refill with bags of salt, maybe the bottom salt has gone bad in some way. I did fill a QT and that was cloudy, BUT the salt was visible for a few days, salinity was way too high, so I did a 1/4 water change and salinity dropped too low...added more salt, cloudy again. So when the tank was cycled and ready for my quarantine fish, I completely emptied it and added saltwater from the LFS where I bought the fish.
Now my large tank sits, still so cloudy. I do have new salt, I think i'll ditch the last of the leftover salt and start new, hook up the carbon reactor and see what happens.

My Ca at 360 for a fish only tank, seems to be reasonable, according to a few charts I finally found. so if Mg and Ca go hand and hand, I would think the Mg would be okay. I don't normally add anything to my tank, it has very little life in it at the moment, no corals etc. So I don't know why it's having these issues other than maybe some outside source, like my RODI water or my salt. I have noticed lately that when I use this salt, it seem to be on the low side of an exceptable range...if my hydrometers are at all accurate, 1.021 which is fine with fish only, but still lower than I normally shoot for.