White junk in filter?

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captmicha

Le tired.
Dec 6, 2006
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Maryland, USA
My blue crabs is in a tiny 5 gallon (getting 20 gallon today) and that's most of the problem but I don't know what the white junk is in his filter. It's little gobs on the filter media and it clogs the media up. I've never encountered anything like it before in fresh water and don't have any experience to draw from having a salt or brackish tank, so I'm clueless about this and search results didn't seem to turn up anything. What is it? Does waste turn white in brackish??
 

platytudes

AC Members
Nov 4, 2006
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Nicole
My guess would be that it's calcium precipitating out of the water. How do you mix your salt? Do you use a heater and powerhead?

It's likely nothing to worry about, the least of your problems really!
 

captmicha

Le tired.
Dec 6, 2006
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Oh, still gross though. I mix it by putting it in a bucket, adding some HOT water, swishing and then adding cool water.

It's likely nothing to worry about, the least of your problems really!
??
 

platytudes

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Nov 4, 2006
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The 5 gallon thing, I mean. Probably not easy keeping a bucket's worth of water stable, with a large and messy carnivorous invert. Hopefully you can get that 20 gallon cycled and ready soon!
 

captmicha

Le tired.
Dec 6, 2006
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Maryland, USA
It's taking forever! I am hitting that tank with Prime every day. A fish store I called said they have one brackish tank and I can have some water from the tank. Will that help seed the filter at all? The type of filters they use won't allow me to have any filter media.
 

jbradt

this is bat country
May 9, 2008
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outback, NY
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I. P. Daily
Water from their tank won't help the cycle. If their tank is healthy, you could may be get some filter media or squeezings from such. Could the white stuff be salt creep? I used to get that a lot with my brackish tank.
 
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