First time testing Calc & Alk. Calc seems high?

Austin Lee

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Hi all,

I invested in a couple of Hanna checkers for the first time! I have a 25 lagoon that's about 7 months old. It's all LPS right now, and I'd like to add some montis soon, so I tested both Calc & Alk today for the first time and they came in at 518 & 8.1, respectively.

I double tested calc & it came in at 521 the first test, and 516 the second test - leading me to 518. I have a few questions....

Is this too high?

Should I be raising my Alk? I know not to be chasing numbers, but I just want to make sure I won't start to see negative effects from such a high calc level.

If my calc is fine, is now a good time to seed coraline since it hasn't started growing? I'm thinking the high calc levels

Everything in the tank seems generaly. happy (I had one acan head recede a couple of weeks ago, but it's coming almost 100% back), but other than that everything in the tank seems okay.

I don't have a mag test kit, so that's my next purchase. Thanks!
 

Mjrenz

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Hi all,

I invested in a couple of Hanna checkers for the first time! I have a 25 lagoon that's about 7 months old. It's all LPS right now, and I'd like to add some montis soon, so I tested both Calc & Alk today for the first time and they came in at 518 & 8.1, respectively.

I double tested calc & it came in at 521 the first test, and 516 the second test - leading me to 518. I have a few questions....

Is this too high?

Should I be raising my Alk? I know not to be chasing numbers, but I just want to make sure I won't start to see negative effects from such a high calc level.

If my calc is fine, is now a good time to seed coraline since it hasn't started growing? I'm thinking the high calc levels

Everything in the tank seems generaly. happy (I had one acan head recede a couple of weeks ago, but it's coming almost 100% back), but other than that everything in the tank seems okay.

I don't have a mag test kit, so that's my next purchase. Thanks!
Alk isn't bad but cal is a little high. Magnesium will be an important thing to test because the higher the mag level is the more cal can be held in solution. What kind of salt are you using?
 

Hitman

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Alk is good, Ca seems pretty high. With that said the Hanna checker is very very finicky. Did you use their distilled water for your test or did you use your own water? I have found not using the Hanna Bottled distilled water through my Ca test results way off.
 
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Austin Lee

Austin Lee

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Alk isn't bad but cal is a little high. Magnesium will be an important thing to test because the higher the mag level is the more cal can be held in solution. What kind of salt are you using?

Okay. I'll have to order a mag test. I use IO Reef Crystals
 
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Austin Lee

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Alk is good, Ca seems pretty high. With that said the Hanna checker is very very finicky. Did you use their distilled water for your test or did you use your own water? I have found not using the Hanna Bottled distilled water through my Ca test results way off.

I used a recommendation from Eat Sleep Reef on YouTube and used CVS Distilled water
 
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Austin Lee

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I've seen a lot of posts from people lately using IO that have calcium and magnesium off the charts

Hmmm...I'll have to look into that.

Are there any potentially negative impacts of high calc?
 

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I used a recommendation from Eat Sleep Reef on YouTube and used CVS Distilled water
Yea that’s a no go. Gotta use the Hanna water to get accurate tests. Mine sits on the shelf now as a total waste of money as I think it’s nuts to be forced to buy their water for a accurate test. I now use the Salifert kits CA and Mg tests and they are accurate and cheaper then having to keep buying Hanna water.
 

Mjrenz

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Hmmm...I'll have to look into that.

Are there any potentially negative impacts of high calc?
It can start to precipitate out of the water but the ugly thing is that any new corals you get may not take well to a drastic change in water parameters
 
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Austin Lee

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Anyway dont panic if your corals look fine and everything Goes well. Just dont add calcium and keep track of it untill your between 420 and 450

Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking. I try not to make drastic changes based off of one result, but I think that my next move is buying a magnesium test while I see if calcium starts to fall.
 

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Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking. I try not to make drastic changes based off of one result, but I think that my next move is buying a magnesium test while I see if calcium starts to fall.
It would be a good idea to check the levels in a newly mixed batch of saltwater also to see what you're putting in your tank. If it's crazy high you may never get it to drop much
 
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Austin Lee

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It would be a good idea to check the levels in a newly mixed batch of saltwater also to see what you're putting in your tank. If it's crazy high you may never get it to drop much

Oh, good call. I have to mix up salt tomorrow, so that'll be on the list.
 
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Austin Lee

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Fwiw, I have used Tropic Marin pro reef since I started in the hobby and have never had any issues or inconsistencies with parameters

Yeah, I've always heard great things about TM. I'm just scarred from switching salts now, because I did it on my 75 a couple years back (from RC to Fritz) and it crashed the tank because that Fritz salt was hot garbage.
 

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Yeah, I've always heard great things about TM. I'm just scarred from switching salts now, because I did it on my 75 a couple years back (from RC to Fritz) and it crashed the tank because that Fritz salt was hot garbage.
That's completely understandable, if you do decide to switch then make changes very slowly so everything can get used to the difference in parameters and you should be fine
 
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Austin Lee

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That's completely understandable, if you do decide to switch then make changes very slowly so everything can get used to the difference in parameters and you should be fine

Awesome. thanks for all of your help!
 

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