Calcium issues

[ReefMan692]

Background:

Early on in my tank setup (about 3 months ago) i dosed 2 part to increase alk mag and cal.

I overshot a hair on the mag and the cal and ended up at 1600 mag and 500~ cal (according to apex).

These numbers more or less stayed that way through numerous (6?) Water changes. Mag had come down only 100 points calcium not moved at all. Alk was at 10 now its at 9.3

I havent been dosing anything for months except for NOPOX and occasional vibrant reef/bacteria.

Today, at around Noon, i decided to tear apart rockwork in reef to do battle with the infamous GHA i had managed to let establish itself. The tank is super clean now.i took out a lot of rocks re arranged things to make it easier on myself and scrubbed the remaining.

I also began a 24 hour, 32 gallon water change we are about halfway through it.

Now the issue is my calcium has shot up to over 600. Mag and Alk remain unchanged at 9.3/1500 but this high calcium is becoming concerning.

How is it possible that these parameters havent come down over time through all the water changes?

Does anyone know of a reason why calcium would rise 100 pts taking out rocks and reshuffling a few others?

Water column did get a little cloudy during the deep cleaning but its crystal clear right now. The GHA is gone, which is a great thing.... but what is going on with my calcium and better yet what is the best way to correctly lower it considering water changes do not seem to be having the desired effect. Id like it to be 450!

P.S i was using reef crystals salt but now im on the FRITZ.


PPS I did add 10ml of peroxide to my 150 gallon today while battling the GHA

 

[namfuak]

BUMP

What salt are you using and what does it test at before you perform the water change?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Calcium will only "rise" from moving rocks if you got suspended calcium carbonate particulates into the water that was tested. That could lead to a false high reading since they can dissolve into a calcium test.

I might just wait a bit and see if the levels drop back to normal.

 

[ReefMan692]

Now i wake up and the alk is climbing... highest its been in a while. Very strange stuff.

Im thinking Ive got ghost in the system all these stats raising while doing a water change these numbers are all higher then defaulf fritz right?

Alkalainity is less spooky because i know it fluxes related to the nitrogen cycle and in my stats below you can sort of see its been on the rise for a little bit.

The calcium really makes no sense to me but I do plan to recalibrate the apex probe today.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Alk is also impacted by particulates in the water, but it may also be testing error.

 

[Privateye]

I'd verify with another testing method to make sure your sensors aren't drifting. Are they clean of bacterial film?

 

[ReefMan692]

I looked at the sensors they look a little dirty i guess hard to tell i shook then aggressively in the water but my finger is too fat to wipe inside the probe eye.

What is best way to clean these and after cleaning is recalibration required?

 

[ReefMan692]

Today I took all my "marinepure ceramic cubes" out of the fuge and replaced them with a 5 inch dsb.

I wasnt loving the cubes, however i did put cubes bakc on top of sand for the night hoping my critters will migrate into sand and I will totally remove them tomorrow.

When I did that, my salinity jumped 2ppt which i lowered back down to 35 promptly (verified with hanna checker)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I wasnt loving the cubes, however i did put cubes bakc on top of sand for the night hoping my critters will migrate into sand and I will totally remove them tomorrow.

When I did that, my salinity jumped 2ppt which i lowered back down to 35 promptly (verified with hanna checker)

I'm not seeing how that salinity increase from moving something is possible.

 

[Scubatricky]

What titration test kit are you using for calcium?

 

[ReefMan692]

I have apex triton or whatever that monitors the alk/cal/mag.

Yeah I dont understand why the salinity jump happened either, but it did. See attached proof=p

The initial dip was probably because the probe wasnt sitting right

But the spike happened when i removed the cubes and added the sand. Could the sand have had a bit of salt in it perhaps? Its carribean sea sand

 

[ReefMan692]

PS these numbers are all +2 higher then the hanna so when probe reads 37 hanna reads 35. Thus when it spiked to 39 on apex probe the true reading was 37 on hanna and i did verify it with the hanna.

 

[Scubatricky]

I have apex triton or whatever that monitors the alk/cal/mag.

Yeah I dont understand why the salinity jump happened either, but it did. See attached proof=p

The initial dip was probably because the probe wasnt sitting right

But the spike happened when i removed the cubes and added the sand. Could the sand have had a bit of salt in it perhaps? Its carribean sea sand

You need to buy a test kit and check manually. Apex are notoriously unreliable for keeping calibration.

A manual test with a eyos or salifert test kit will tell you how awful the apex is.

 

[ReefMan692]

You need to buy a test kit and check manually. Apex are notoriously unreliable for keeping calibration.

A manual test with a eyos or salifert test kit will tell you how awful the apex is.

I could def look into that.. would be a super disappointment though why would I buy such expensive and extravagant testing equipment and reagants if it doesnt work? Why would this equipment be popularized and sold by the largest suppliers?

Or is it maybe more like I just need to recalibrate the apex... either way I will take your advice because it would be a good idea to at least have a backup test to check/verify and know if its time to recalibrate

 

[ReefMan692]

Here is what the apex shows today. Cal and mag dropping all of a sudden.

Im with you on the apex being wonky.

 

[Scubatricky]

Here is what the apex shows today. Cal and mag dropping all of a sudden.

Im with you on the apex being wonky.

I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's a popular topic in the UK. Apex can read gibberish.

Once you've tested with another test kit you'll have your answer.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yeah I dont understand why the salinity jump happened either, but it did. See attached proof=p

The initial dip was probably because the probe wasnt sitting right

But the spike happened when i removed the cubes and added the sand. Could the sand have had a bit of salt in it perhaps? Its carribean sea sand

I should have made it more clear: the observation is a test error of some sort. Just moving something in the tank will not raise salinity in any operating reef tank. No, there could not have been undissolved salt sitting in it if for all the time it was in the tank.

Test error is very common.

 

[Privateye]

I looked at the sensors they look a little dirty i guess hard to tell i shook then aggressively in the water but my finger is too fat to wipe inside the probe eye.

What is best way to clean these and after cleaning is recalibration required?

Good question - I haven't dealt with these sensors before. Usually a soft cloth-like material is best for cleaning sensors. Waving it around in the water won't do much for bacterial film. Would a q-tip fit?

For reference, back at the sturgeon farm, we would wipe our dissolved oxygen sensors daily. You could tell when someone missed one. The DO would jump up about 0.3 ppm after a cleaning, and even higher if someone missed a day.