Calcium too high??

[bioteacher]

Am having a dilemma. I inherited my 125 g reef in march this year. Previous owner dosed with a 2 part calcium/alkalinity supplement and recommended I continued. I didn't dose until June cause that is when I bought the kits and the kent supplements. I bought salifert kits cause I heard that cheap calcium kits are worthless. When I originally checked, my calcium was around 600 and alk was at 7.0. I was surprised that calcium was that high since I did not supplement at all. Just regular water changes with rodi water and coralife salt. The alk was a bit low so I started dosing just the one part of the kent tech cb. My current readings are 640 cal and 8.0 alk. The calcium number seems high and worries me. Any clues what could be going on here? Is a calcium level that high detrimental? It seems like most people fight to keep calcium high enough rather than trying to lower their numbers. Oh, and yes I have checked my tds on my rodi water. It was at 6ppm so I don't think that is an issue.

 

[bigben2057]

Yeah 600 is quite high its supposed to be like 450-80.

 

[bioteacher]

How do I get it down? I haven't added any additional calcium and it is not going down.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I wouldn't worry about it. Worst thing is that high calcium is hard on your pumps. It will precipitate out long before it hits concentrations that would harm the livestock. It is odd it is this high with no dosing on your part. What is your PH? Alkalinity is on the low side but acceptable. I would also hold the test kit suspect at they are notoriously wrong, even the good ones. But as always, do your water exchanges. What does your fresh saltwater read on calcium and what mix are you using?

 

[bioteacher]

My ph is at 8.86. I use a hand held Hanna digital meter. It has always been high since I got the tank so I think that it might be out of calibration a bit. It has been very steady in this range ever since I got the tank. I hadn't thought to test my rodi water for calcium before mixing. Just assumed that since my tds was so low that there couldn't be calcium in my water.

 

[Schism]

How do I get it down? I haven't added any additional calcium and it is not going down.

Water changes will lower it. Whats in the tank as far as coral?

 

[bioteacher]

Ok, checked my rodi for cal. It's not that. That stuff changed from purple ( supposed to start pink if there is cal) to clear blue in one drip. Calcium of rodi is between 0-10 ppm.

 

[bioteacher]

I've been doing weekly- biweekly water changes since march. It has always been this high and is not getting lower. Could coralife salt be higher in calcium than other salts? I mix it to 1.025 measured with a hydrometer.

 

[Schism]

I've been doing weekly- biweekly water changes since march. It has always been this high and is not getting lower. Could coralife salt be higher in calcium than other salts? I mix it to 1.025 measured with a hydrometer.

Well its possible you have a bad batch of salt. But i dont know of any salt brand that is even advertised at even 500ppm at 1.026.

Mix up a small batch of new saltwater and test it.

 

[bioteacher]

Well its possible you have a bad batch of salt. But i dont know of any salt brand that is even advertised at even 500ppm at 1.026.

Mix up a small batch of new saltwater and test it.

I will try this tomorrow. Getting too late tonight. I am skeptical of this too because I have gone through 5-6 200 gal boxes of this salt over the month and I have always had this problem. Oh and I bought all of the boxes separately so there is no chance that they all came from the same pallet or anything like that. I will check it though.

 

[Bige]

What test did you use? I suspect a bad test kit.

 

[Bige]

Also, what is your mg at?

 

[bioteacher]

What test did you use? I suspect a bad test kit.

It is a salifert cal test kit

 

[bioteacher]

Also, what is your mg at?

I don't have a magnesium test kit. I have read a limitless about how magnesium can affect things but I don't fully understand it. Can anyone explain this to me?

 

[Mrc8858]

I will try this tomorrow. Getting too late tonight. I am skeptical of this too because I have gone through 5-6 200 gal boxes of this salt over the month and I have always had this problem. Oh and I bought all of the boxes separately so there is no chance that they all came from the same pallet or anything like that. I will check it though.

Hold on..... You've used 5 or 6 200gallon boxes in a month so you've made 1000-1200 gallons of water already?

 

[Mrc8858]

I don't have a magnesium test kit. I have read a limitless about how magnesium can affect things but I don't fully understand it. Can anyone explain this to me?

If magnesium is to low then no matter how high your alkalinity and calcium is it won't he able to be absorbed by the corals

 

[Mrc8858]

You'll want to try to maintain magnesium at 3x the level of your calcium by the way

 

[Madreefer420]

Isn't 8.8 ph high I know that won't cause calcium to go up but still wouldn't that be a problem

 

[Mrc8858]

It is a bit high but I do believe that the elevated calcium levels could be the reason for that but I may be wrong

 

[bioteacher]

Hold on..... You've used 5 or 6 200gallon boxes in a month so you've made 1000-1200 gallons of water already?

No, I've used that much since February when I acquired the tank.