My params

Adequate

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I recently got a good-sized acro frag/mini colony, which brought my calcium down to 380ppm a couple days after it went into the tank. The low calcium level prompted me to add calcium chloride to the tank, as directed by (http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html), and upon testing, found that the calcium went off the charts (see Test 1 below). I used the Salifert Ca test kit, and the water sample stayed pink even after adding the whole 1ml of Ca-3, i.e., the calcium was over 500ppm. In response to the low KH (tested with Salifert), I also added some baking soda, again, as directed by the aforementioned calculator.

I did a ~25% water change to hopefully lower the calcium back down to 450ppm, and redid the water test (see Test 2 below). Still over 500ppm, I added an extra 0.3ml of Ca-3, which turned the water sample blue, so that's a calcium level of ~630ppm, if I'm not mistaken? None of the corals seem too peeved, not even the acro.

Test 1
KH: 5.7
Calcium: >500ppm

Test 2
KH: 9.7
Calcium: >500ppm (possibly 630ppm)
pH: 7.6*

I'm using NSW, which has the following params:
Alk: 7.5
Calcium: 430ppm
pH: 7.6*

*I doubt that the pH is this low, this is just what the pH pen is telling me, and it's given me funny readings before, but I'm not too worried, as the tank water's pH is the same as how it is straight out of the sea.

Can anyone advise if the problem will fix itself over the next few days, as the corals bring down the calcium and KH?
 

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It will come down on its own. I wouldn’t worry to much about the higher calcium

Test your water on the alk once a day at the same time everyday till you see it where you want it then dose maybe 1-2 ml of whatever your. Using. Next night test and figure out if you can stick with original or if you need more
 

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And I believe PH is depends upon gas exchange with the tank and the surrounding air. It should fluctuate between day and night?

Maybe buy a titration test kit or another Pen so you can verify results
 

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A couple of thoughts:
1. Ca test are notoriously prone to error so I'd take any Ca result with skepticism
2. If perchance you drove your Ca super-high a precipitation event can occur that would lower both your Ca and Alk
3. In my opinion, unless you have a large tank, you're better off correcting with several larger water changes over a couple of weeks
4. SPS are sensitive to swings in parameters, so slow changes are better
5. While your pH is low, that number may also be suspect as tanks typically don't get that low unless you are using a Ca reactor. How are you measuring it?
 
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It will come down on its own. I wouldn’t worry to much about the higher calcium

Test your water on the alk once a day at the same time everyday till you see it where you want it then dose maybe 1-2 ml of whatever your. Using. Next night test and figure out if you can stick with original or if you need more
Thank you, I was also thinking of just letting the levels lower themselves. I'll keep up with the testing once or twice a day too.

And I believe PH is depends upon gas exchange with the tank and the surrounding air. It should fluctuate between day and night?

Maybe buy a titration test kit or another Pen so you can verify results
I thought that the Salifert test kits, which I'm using, do use titration? A backup pH test kit may be in order, this pen gives me weird results sometimes. It gave me a higher pH from my tapwater than the tank.

A couple of thoughts:
1. Ca test are notoriously prone to error so I'd take any Ca result with skepticism
2. If perchance you drove your Ca super-high a precipitation event can occur that would lower both your Ca and Alk
3. In my opinion, unless you have a large tank, you're better off correcting with several larger water changes over a couple of weeks
4. SPS are sensitive to swings in parameters, so slow changes are better
5. While your pH is low, that number may also be suspect as tanks typically don't get that low unless you are using a Ca reactor. How are you measuring it?

That's what I thought, if the calc is so high, then why isn't the alk also high? I prefer to keep the alk between 7-8, like in NSW. I'm not using a calcium reactor, all I did was add a couple tablespoons of calcium chloride earlier this week, and I must have over-shot it for the calcium to get that high. To test for pH, I'm using a cheap digital pH pen from Amazon, which probably isn't super accurate and I probably need to get a better pH test kit.
 
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Just under 100 litres, taking live rock and sand into account.

Just did Test 3:

KH: 10.0
Calcium: ~520ppm

Should I be concerned about the Ca drop? Tests 2 and 3 were done less than 12 hours apart, and a drop in Ca of 110ppm seems potentially hazardous for the more sensitive corals in the tank, such as the acro.
 
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blasterman

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Two tablespoons of calcium chloride doesnt explain the numbers here. That's about 100 points of change in a 25gal tank if my math is right.

Salifert CA test kits tend to under read, but its user error. You need to measure the calcium level when the color fully changes to blue, not initially turn purple.

You need to check a verified source to get a firm frame of reference in where you stand. Fresh salt mix or NSW is a good starting point. As long as calcium is around 400 things are fine. While higher levels don't bother SPS they can bug softies, and now you have the conundrum of when you do a water change you are vastly changing water params. This is why I preach keeping calcium levels at 400-450 and leave it alone. Calcium depletes slower than you think unless you have huge amounts of SPS. More often than not water changes can replenish calcium and mag. Alk is the only one that requires tweaking.

If your room gets some fresh air pH is fine. Don't care what the test kit says.
 
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Two tablespoons of calcium chloride doesnt explain the numbers here. That's about 100 points of change in a 25gal tank if my math is right.
That's what I thought, it doesn't make sense.

You need to check a verified source to get a firm frame of reference in where you stand. Fresh salt mix or NSW is a good starting point. As long as calcium is around 400 things are fine. While higher levels don't bother SPS they can bug softies, and now you have the conundrum of when you do a water change you are vastly changing water params. This is why I preach keeping calcium levels at 400-450 and leave it alone. Calcium depletes slower than you think unless you have huge amounts of SPS. More often than not water changes can replenish calcium and mag. Alk is the only one that requires tweaking.
I use NSW, which has suitable params for a reef: Alk of 7.5 and Ca of 430ppm. I think what I'll do is monitor the params, and test once or twice a day, just letting it fix itself hopefully. The tank is relatively light on coral (for now), which is why I didn't bother testing beforehand, so I don't have a frame of reference for what it used to be. Now that the acro has entered the picture, I'm more conscious of my params, seeing as how no other coral is as sensitive as it.

If your room gets some fresh air pH is fine. Don't care what the test kit says.
No problems there, the tank is outside :)
 

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Just under 100 litres, taking live rock and sand into account.

Just did Test 3:

KH: 10.0
Calcium: ~520ppm

Should I be concerned about the Ca drop? Tests 2 and 3 were done less than 12 hours apart, and a drop in Ca of 110ppm seems potentially hazardous for the more sensitive corals in the tank, such as the acro.

These Ca tests are not so accurate. Do it again and you may see an 80ppm drop.
 
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Adequate

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Test 4:

KH: 10.9
Calcium: 550

Not sure why the values are going up :confused:, I haven't been dosing anything. Everything looks fine, but I'm not sure if it'll stay that way.
 
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