How to get rid of a "Snowstorm" ?

[24gnanonewbie]

I think I have a snowstorm... My tank has been cloudy in the past, and this is not "cloudy" its like a fog. Its horrible... I have added no suppliments to the tank.

I will be testing all my parameters tonight...

But in the meantime, how do I get rid of it?

Water Changes? And what would be a recommended percentage?

[xtopher_vw]

Skim wet

[sir_dudeguy]

I would suggest doing a good water change.

Could it be calcium precipitate? I've heard when the calc and alk are off or too high or something that the calcium will actually fall out of the water and land on the rock and stuff..

Or, did you have any large corals die? I once lost a very large torch coral and this happened.

[24gnanonewbie]

What percentage of a water change?

I did not have any big corals... and couple frags of zoas.

What did you do to get past it, sir_dudeguy?

[Travis L. Stevens]

I agree with dudeguy. We need to know what is causing it first. Do you have fish that stir up the sandbed? It could be just dirt and skimming wet will work. If not, then check your Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium levels. This could be causing your calcium to percipitate out. A few large water changes to help put things back in place and then using an amount of 2-part to balance out the Ca/Alk where you want them to be for fine tuning will do the trick.

[c.rob]

Wether it's biological or chemicle you need to change the water. I have done 100% water changes in the past. If the new water is the right Ph,salinity,temp and aged a day or so you will not hurt anything. I would also run carbon since you don't know if it's biological.

What is in the tank specificaly and what are the params ?

[czerbe]

i don't think a 100% change is a good thing you might screw things up even more. try a 50% change and skimm wet and see what happens in the morning but check your levels

[Zoa Girl]

I would first check all parameters. My first thought when I read the op was ammonia.

Run carbon, skim wet, 50% water change.

[AussieSurfGirl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11188628#post11188628 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by czerbe
i don't think a 100% change is a good thing you might screw things up even more. try a 50% change and skimm wet and see what happens in the morning but check your levels

I agree with czerbe

[KAiNE]

I had a snowstorm a few days ago.... my fault since i went to work knowing that my kalk tub was very low. What i didnt know was that the intake hose was down in the mud....

PH spiked to 9.2 and it was a "white almost thanksgiving" in the reef. Luckily my wife was home and my controller sent me a text telling me of the ph spike. Got my wife to hit it with 50ml of vinegar (200g system). That got it down to 8.6 within an hour. No bad effects seen. Actually I have seen a rise in ORP and what seems to be better water clarity.

I skimmed wet or i should say white.... pulled about 2 gallons a day of wet, white skimmate and today (3days later) there isnt much white residue left. My rocks were covered... everything was white except the corals... pretty neat look...lol

IMO - if your reef is healthy and the ph didnt hold above 8.6 for very long you should be ok... skim wet and run carbon if you can. I didnt do any water changes myself mainly because i had just done one last weekend and dont have the salt on hand. If i had seen problems, i would have.

Wait until the cloudiness is gone before you test ALK and CA otherwise your reading will be false.