High calcium

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tbrock

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Nov 19, 2004
Messages
182
Location
Kansas
My calcium is at about 520 according to theaquarium pharmaceuticals test kit. Is there any way i can lower it?
 
Water changes are usually the best method as long as it tests in the right range.

You should also determine how it got that high. Dosing, low alk, low Mg and so on...

Cheers
Steve
 
I've been using aragamilk because i thought it was supposed to balance clacium and alkalinity, could that be the problem? All other levels are good, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are 0 and ph is 8.2.
 
well, my lfs doesnt have an alkalinity test kit so i dont know, but would alkalinity be low if calcium is high?
 
you need to get some test kits and test the water on a regular basis. You should never add anything to the tank unless you can test the water so you know how much product to add. Stop adding that stuff till you can get some test kits. Is 520 critical IMO no, is it something that needs to be addressed yes.
What type of salt are you using? Ocieanic runs a higher Cal level then most.
 
Order and alk test kit. There's no way to say 'if cal is high alk must be low'...way too many variables, plus magnesium plays a big role in keeping cal/alk balanced.

if you had a low alk, and couldn't raise it, then you'd also need a Mg test kit to confirma low Mg level...thought typically regular water changes will keep Mg at a proper level.
 
tbrock said:
I've been using aragamilk because i thought it was supposed to balance clacium and alkalinity, could that be the problem? All other levels are good, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are 0 and ph is 8.2.
As well as the above, you may also need to get seperate additives for the alk and Ca. Balanced additives are great but if the chemistry is imbalanced, the additive you are using in particular will not be able to fix the problem. It will actually make it worse. Once you know the alk level, repost both and we can go from there. Until then, I would suggest discontinuing the use of the aragamilk and do a few good sized water changes with well aged/aerated SW to help regain the balance (saltmix depending).

Cheers
Steve
 
Ok i've been doing smal 2.5 gal water changes everyday for the last three days trying to get rid of algae on the sand. i'll have my lfs order tests kits for alk and mg. Also, does high calcium result in algae growth? I cant seem to git rid of algae in my tank and i dont know what could be causing it other than calcium. Thanks for all the help
 
nitrate and phosphate causes algae. calcium would only affect coralline algae growth on rocks and glass (pretty stuff, not ugly like algae).

The macro algae halmidia (spelling?) does soak up calcium, but it looks more like a plant than 'algae'.

Is it cyano algae? Brown 'dusty' algae (which would be normal diatom bloom)?
 
It's kinda greenish brown slimy algae, is that what cyano is like? i'll try and get a pic of it. What test kits do you use for alk and mg? im having trouble finding many of them on the internet. the only mg test kit i could find is 23 dollars. If regular water changes keep it at the right level, is it really worth it? All this stuff kinda confuses me so thanks for all the help
 
you need test kits for what ever you use additives for... Alkalinity and calcium are the 2 that people use the most. Mg IMO is not needed but can be helpful, I have never tested for that.
Ca and alk should be checked on a regular basis if you have corals and what good coraline algae growth. the good test kits are not cheap and this is one area where you should not get cheap. I would pick up the ca and alk kits...
If your having cyno problems you should test for phosphates also.. If its slimy then its sounds like cyno. What type of water are you using, tap, ro/di?
Its hard to tell in the pic if its cyno or not..
slimy, easy to remove, has air bubbles that get traped in it, then its cyno..
 
i'm using ro/di water. Form your description, it sound lke what i have is cyano. what brand of test kit do you use for alk?
 
IMO salifert is a greal good kit... if your using cyno then you need to figure out where the excess nurtriants are coming from.. Do you feed a lot and what do you feed. You should have your water tested for phosphates..
 
I just feed flake food. until the algae started appearing, i was probably over feeding just a little bit. Other than food, the only thing i have put in the tank is the aragamilk which i have alos stopped doing. A couple months ago, my sister brought some sea shells straight form the ocean for my tank. Her boyfreind, who also has a tank, thought that may be what caused the algae so i took them out. Could sea shells form the ocean have caused it?
 
What kind of livestock did you have in there again ??

Usally if the fish are anything except a damsel they appreaciate a varied diet, this is a different conversation but im just pointing that fact out.

Lighting, the abundance of nutriets from the argamilk would probably cause some algae growth.

In the add for this stuff it says " no risk of overdose" hmm. It does contain calcium, carbonate buffer, and some other essentials. Just chill out on the stuff. Instead of following the directions on the bottle, test for your ca and alk levels, then see how much you need to change those numbers. Dont just dump it in.

Id say keep on the weekly 10-20% till your numbers come back down. Good luck
 
what type of substrate is in the tank?

erm...forget the question, I just saw your post that said sand....
 
The subtrate is live sand and lighting is 2 65 watt bulbs. I thought aragamilk was supposed to keep calcium, ph, and alkalinity at a balance, not just raise them, thats what i understood form the label anyways, so i dotn see how it could have made calcium go so high. Correct me if I'm wrong (i probably am), but i was told in a different post a while back that good alkalinity kept the ph buffering at the level it sshould be. My ph is perfectly fine now, so would that mean that my alkalinity is to? Does anyone know about the sea shells? Thanks for all the help
 
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