Calcium question

[degbowl]

I've had my sw tank for a couple of years and my calcium level is 450. I use RO/DI water and Oceanic salt. I helped a friend set up a sw tank 6 months ago. He is using RO/DI water and Oceanic salt. He tested his calcium and he says it is 800. Is that possible? I asked him to give me a sample so I can test it. What can I tell him to do to lower the calcium? Does he have to lower it? Right now his tank is FOWLR but he eventually wants to get coral and maybe an anemone. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Jim

 

[cmor1701d]

What is his alk reading? 800 is extremely high I would expect CA to precipitate out of solution at those values.

Check out Solving Calcium and Alkalinity Problems

What are your pH, Alk and Mg readings? Do you have corals? Are you dosing any CA in addition to PWCs?

 

[degbowl]

It is my friends tank. He is going to give me a water sample so I can test it. He might have just did the test wrong. When I get the sample I will do all the tests and let you know. He just has a Fish only with Live Rock right now. He is not dosing with calcium. He is adding a marine buffer to get ph to 8.3 . Thanks for the link. I will check it out.

 

[usmcmarc]

Did you ever get those parameters? I'm very curious since I use Oceanic Salt as well.

What kind of substrate is he using? I had a bit of a low pH problem when I started my tank...but it stabilized after a few months after I added more aragonite substrate.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

He most likely did the test wrong. As cmor1701d said, Ca levels that high are not normally attainable in our tanks.

 

[melosu58]

Most likely it is wrong. I get around 480 with oceanic.

 

[cmor1701d]

What's your alk and Mg readings with Oceanic? I tried a bucket and had low pH with each batch. That was when it first came out and became popular. Just wondering if they've balanced the mix.

Do you buy the 200 gal bucket and mixa small batch from that or do you buy a small box and mix the whole thing at once?

 

[chase33]

Wow. 800 is extremely high. Even 480 is high without dosing. I cannot get mine above 400 without dosing. I use Reef Crystals. 800 is likely a mistake and I'm anxious to here the results of the retest.