Calcium too high

[wotis11]

I’ve been testing my tank since I started it, about 2 months ago, with api test kits and it kept coming up with Alk 7.0 and wouldn’t go down and calcium started at 460 ppm and went down by 20 ppm every 24 hours. Well today I got Hanna test kits for both and tested with them. It got 8.6 for Alk and 592ppm for calcium. How is that possible for my calcium to be so high because I use reef crystals salt which is supposed to mix up to 455ppm at 1.026 salinity.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Are you dosing anything into the tank that is boosting calcium numbers? Did you watch a tutorial on how to use the calcium checker? It's extremely touchy. Even getting a fingerprint on the vial or washing it with tap water will throw off your test results.

Oh and welcome to reef2reef!

 

[wotis11]

Are you dosing anything into the tank that is boosting calcium numbers? Did you watch a tutorial on how to use the calcium checker? It's extremely touchy. Even getting a fingerprint on the vial or washing it with tap water will throw off your test results.

Oh and welcome to reef2reef!

I haven’t watched a video on it. I just read the directions and followed them to a t

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I haven’t watched a video on it. I just read the directions and followed them to a t

Ya that's a common mistake (I've been there), there's more to it then that. Basically the vials have to be spotless inside and out. And if they get scratched they're junk

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I will say though that if your calcium really is that high it isn't going to hurt anything

 

[wotis11]

I will say though that if your calcium really is that high it isn't going to hurt anything

I thought that if your calcium is too high, over 500, it will make your alk too low. Although according to my new Hanna taster my alk is 8.6 dkh. And to answer no I haven’t dosed the tank with anything

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I thought that if your calcium is too high, over 500, it will make your alk too low. Although according to my new Hanna taster my alk is 8.6 dkh. And to answer no I haven’t dosed the tank with anything

Well your calcium is really high and your Alk isn't low. If anything your Alk is a little high. If your not dosing anything I really think this is due to test error.

Do you have lps and sps corals in your tank?

 

[wotis11]

Yes I have about 20 corals total. Two of them are sps and the rest is split between lps and softies

 

[homer1475]

Testing error, trust me. The hanna checker for calcium is just plain junk. One drop in either direction will throw off the checker by a lot.

Any other test(salifert, red sea, lamotte) is better then the hanna for calcium.

 

[wotis11]

Testing error, trust me. The hanna checker for calcium is just plain junk. One drop in either direction will throw off the checker by a lot.

Any other test(salifert, red sea, lamotte) is better then the hanna for calcium.

Well I will retest today and see if it still reads high

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I thought that if your calcium is too high, over 500, it will make your alk too low. Although according to my new Hanna taster my alk is 8.6 dkh. And to answer no I haven’t dosed the tank with anything

Not really. Higher than normal calcium (say, 600 ppm compared to 400 ppm) doesn't drive down alk any more than higher than normal alkalinity (say, 10.5 dKH compared to 7 dKH) drives down calcium. It's generally not a fast process.

 

[wotis11]

I just tested calcium and Alk again 24 hours since last time and now it says my calcium is 487ppm and my alk is 8.4

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I just tested calcium and Alk again 24 hours since last time and now it says my calcium is 487ppm and my alk is 8.4

Sounds fine, but I'll note that the calcium certainly didn't drop that much (100 ppm) in 24 h. One of both of the Ca measurements is in error.

 

[hyeclass]

what's the best way to drop the calcium without doing alot of water change alk is 9.5

 

[hyeclass]

what's the best way to drop the calcium without doing alot of water change alk is 9.5

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It is fine where it is. If you are not dosing any, there’s no need to do anything.

 

[wotis11]

I just tested again for the third day in a row and today I came up with 527 for calcium and 8.4 for alk. On the first day I double checked and came up with the same for calcium twice and I double checked today and came up with the same twice today. I didn’t double check yesterday but I guess I should have. So I’m thinking the first day and today we’re right and yesterday was wrong for some reason so does using 65ppm of calcium over two days sound right or is that too much

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You didn’t consume 65 ppm calcium in 2 days unless you also consumed something like 9.6 dKH in that time. It would also be a VERY high demand. So I think it is not correct.

 

[wotis11]

How much is a normal consumption off both calcium and alk. I’m not reallly sure how it works yet

 

[tkd]

For what its worth. I am using the Hanna Calcium checker. One thing I have learned is the cuvette need to be spotless. the other is, when putting the cuvette in the checker, make sure you put them in the same way when doing the C1 and C2 check. What I mean is, on the cuvette there is a white ring around the top or fill line marked 10ml on one side and on the other side it is blank between the ring. If you put the 10ml into the checker to zero out (C1) facing you, put it back in the checker the same way for your C2 reading. If you put in a different way, it may pick up blemishes or glass imperfections when the light shines through during the C2 reading and may throw off the reading.

Definitely watch the videos which may help.