Drywall Dust + Tank= Algae outbreak?

seapug · 07/20/2007, 12:09 PM

Here's one for the chemists-- I recently finished off a room in my basement adjacent to the previously finished room where my 9 month old 90 gal. tank resides. There is a door between the rooms and I did what I could to keep the mess isolated, but quite a lot of dust still made it's way into the tank room. About 4 days into the work, my tank experienced an explosion of Bryopsis (something I've never had a problem with before). I began wondering if the drywall dust contained some sort of algae fuel and did some research. It turns out that drywall is made from gypsum plaster, which is basically calcium sulphate (CaSO4). I'm wondering if this dust could have somehow thrown my tank out of balance and cause an algae bloom. I don't think the Calcium could be a problem, but what about the sulphate component?

Any of you chemistry folks care to take a stab? Thanks in advance....

bertoni · 07/20/2007, 02:09 PM

I don't think calcium sulphate is going to be an issue. There's already a lot of sulphate in seawater:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-11/rhf/index.php

It's hard to say what might have caused the problem. Perhaps some other contaminant or component of the drywall fueled the alga.

seapug · 07/20/2007, 03:21 PM

Thanks for pointing me to the article, bertoni. We had a heatwave in my area around the same time, so it might have been a factor. It was just frightening how fast it happened-- went from no Bryopsis to bushes everywhere in only a few days time. Good news is I think I'm beating it down with manual pruning and water changes...at least I hope.

So drywall has calcium and sulphate and so does seawater....could a "drywall reactor" be of benefit to a tank? lol....

07/20/2007, 12:09 PM	#1
seapug Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: 4980 ft. Posts: 7,954 Blog Entries: 1	Drywall Dust + Tank= Algae outbreak? Here's one for the chemists-- I recently finished off a room in my basement adjacent to the previously finished room where my 9 month old 90 gal. tank resides. There is a door between the rooms and I did what I could to keep the mess isolated, but quite a lot of dust still made it's way into the tank room. About 4 days into the work, my tank experienced an explosion of Bryopsis (something I've never had a problem with before). I began wondering if the drywall dust contained some sort of algae fuel and did some research. It turns out that drywall is made from gypsum plaster, which is basically calcium sulphate (CaSO4). I'm wondering if this dust could have somehow thrown my tank out of balance and cause an algae bloom. I don't think the Calcium could be a problem, but what about the sulphate component? Any of you chemistry folks care to take a stab? Thanks in advance....

07/20/2007, 02:09 PM	#2
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	I don't think calcium sulphate is going to be an issue. There's already a lot of sulphate in seawater: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-11/rhf/index.php It's hard to say what might have caused the problem. Perhaps some other contaminant or component of the drywall fueled the alga. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

07/20/2007, 03:21 PM	#3
seapug Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: 4980 ft. Posts: 7,954 Blog Entries: 1	Thanks for pointing me to the article, bertoni. We had a heatwave in my area around the same time, so it might have been a factor. It was just frightening how fast it happened-- went from no Bryopsis to bushes everywhere in only a few days time. Good news is I think I'm beating it down with manual pruning and water changes...at least I hope. So drywall has calcium and sulphate and so does seawater....could a "drywall reactor" be of benefit to a tank? lol.... __________________ insert clever saying here. Current Tank Info: 200 gallon custom Marineland DD peninsular tank. LPS dominated mixed reef. Previous 90 gallon mixed reef TOTM April 2009.