new to chemistry, high alk low calc. corals looking bad :( plz help

[shellygirl55]

hi all
very new to this chemestry part of the hobby.. let me see if i can awnser these questions
1. Type & how long you have had it: 26 g aquapod
2. Current lighting & Bulb Age:2 months metal halides
3. Nitrate:0
4. Calcium:80
5. Phosphate:
6. Alkalinity: off the chart but over 300
7. pH:8.4
8. Salinity:1.025
9. Temperature:82
10. Liquid or strip test kits:liquid
11. Location in tank:top
12. Current amount of flow:a lot
13. Current tank dosing regimen: just been adding kh as it is low
14. Nearby coral:
15. Explanation of problem:
i know my calcium is very low, and my alk is very high... i hadn't realized this untill my pulsing xenia's stopped pulsing yesterday. my fish guru guy always tells me that the xenia's kind of pulse if your water quality is good and don't pulse if your water is bad, so i freaked out and started testing everything, and figured out the problem with alk and calcium. my other corals don't look as happy as they normally do either... i do have kent marine liquid calcium, but i have no idea if i should use it or how... anyone have any advice for me... i am officially confused about this whole thing

thanks in advance

michelle

 

[mr_X]

i would not trust those liquid test kits.
meanwhile, just do a water change. what salt mix are you using?
the xenia theory is incorrect.

 

[shellygirl55]

Been using premixed salt water from the ltd...I hear you on the wqter change...problem is we just did a 10% water change 4 days ago

Today everything in the tank looks bad!!! My duncans are all shriveled my frogspawn is shriveled my zoos look yucky...I am freaking out
Any ideas??

 

[crzytrace]

if your corals arent looking right then something is out of whack. didnt see a magnesium test result.. maybe low? usually the culprit when cal and alk are messed up- unless your dosing something?

 

[Ahmed dada]

Leave the corals. Just do a 50% water change and they should be fine

 

[ccCapt]

Your calcium test result is wrong. It's impossible for it to be 80.

"Alkalinity: off the chart but over 300"
"Current tank dosing regimen: just been adding kh as it is low"
You are confused here. Alkalinity is measure in dKH...degrees of karbonate hardness. You say your alk is high, but kh low and your dosing kh. I don't know what your dosing, but it's probably driving your alk too high. 300ppm = 16.8 dKH. You want to be around 7-11 dKH. That may be the reason your corals are looking bad. Most, if not all corals don't react well to high alk.

 

[mr_X]

stop dosing anything. you don't need any of that stuff. just do large water changes to remove it and then do weekly water changes to keep the corals happy. that's all you need to do.
if with the LFS water is measuring bad levels, buy salt and make your own water.