curiousphil
Super Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2013
- Location
- London, Ontario
Question for you guys.... just posted this over on ReefCentral as well.
I've been noticing a buildup of a hard whitish substance on the outside of my tank glass for a couple of months, at the bottom of my tank. Sometimes these patches are powdery, bone dry, and hard to scratch off. Sometimes they are moist and wipe off with paper towel. The patches always grow in a circular pattern similar to corraline algae and always start from the bottom trim and grow up/out from there. I was just scrubbing the camera roll on my phone for pictures of it but I don't seem to have any... I could take one tonight if it will help.
My girlfriend thinks that I have a slow leak somewhere on my tank, but I assumed it was some sort of precipitation. I've read that high alk can cause precipitation on glass, heaters in particular, but I've never read about it happening on the outside of tank glass. Am I deluding myself, to talk myself out of thinking that I have a slow leak? Or is something like this possible? Given how the patches start at the bottom trim (plastic rim that the glass sits in) and that they are wet sometimes, I suppose it's possible that a slow leak could drip water into that tray that then evaporates and creates these deposits... but I would like to believe not.
Since September my water has been anywhere between 350-450 Ca and 6.5-10 dKH. Lately (since November) it's been more stable due to kalkwasser addition via ATO and has been sitting around 450 Ca and 9.5 dKH. I have noticed the buildup more when the alk and ca are higher.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts you may have.
I've been noticing a buildup of a hard whitish substance on the outside of my tank glass for a couple of months, at the bottom of my tank. Sometimes these patches are powdery, bone dry, and hard to scratch off. Sometimes they are moist and wipe off with paper towel. The patches always grow in a circular pattern similar to corraline algae and always start from the bottom trim and grow up/out from there. I was just scrubbing the camera roll on my phone for pictures of it but I don't seem to have any... I could take one tonight if it will help.
My girlfriend thinks that I have a slow leak somewhere on my tank, but I assumed it was some sort of precipitation. I've read that high alk can cause precipitation on glass, heaters in particular, but I've never read about it happening on the outside of tank glass. Am I deluding myself, to talk myself out of thinking that I have a slow leak? Or is something like this possible? Given how the patches start at the bottom trim (plastic rim that the glass sits in) and that they are wet sometimes, I suppose it's possible that a slow leak could drip water into that tray that then evaporates and creates these deposits... but I would like to believe not.
Since September my water has been anywhere between 350-450 Ca and 6.5-10 dKH. Lately (since November) it's been more stable due to kalkwasser addition via ATO and has been sitting around 450 Ca and 9.5 dKH. I have noticed the buildup more when the alk and ca are higher.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts you may have.
