Very High Calcium and Low alkalinity, HELP!!

[bdare]

My tank is new and from what ive read Randy say over and over again just to keep alk stable and no corals or very few just use baking soda and ive been doing that since my calcium doesnt change since nothings using it and my tank has been great and i do a water change only when nitrates get to 20 ppm other then that just mix a little baking soda with some tank water

less is more try doing 1/16th teaspoon of baking soda if it stays the same do an 1/8th and just check you will find how much you need to keep it stable at your 7.3dkh

id dose a very small amount of baking soda and re test the next day after doing that i figured out i only need like 1/16th of a teaspoon every 3 days to keep my alk pretty stable in between water changes

i maybe wrong in how i did it but your better off starting very small and uping the dose slowly until you get it stabalized

i hope i helped and didn’t give any wrong info
Just my personal experience and learning from R2R everyday =]

Do you know what your daily alk consumption is? Don't dose anything. Measure Alk exactly 24 hours apart to figure out your daily consumption. From there, assuming your new tank is using Alk, you can use one of the many online calculators to figure out how much to dose.

If you do need to make an adjustment (per Randy it doesn't appear that's required) you can increase alk by as much as 1DKH per day.

 

[Don_Jorge]

how does one get 600 ppm calcium without dosing?

 

[lazy josh]

how does one get 600 ppm calcium without dosing?

I think he said his test kit was off some when he double checked it with another

 

[Larry101]

how does one get 600 ppm calcium without dosing?

Reef crystals has a higher calcium level in reality than it says on the box because it is assuming you are going to be using it at a lower salinity as a marketing technique so that it looks like the salt will actually make 200 gallons of saltwater when in reality it will be a lot less since we are using a higher salinity of around 35ppt for our reef tanks.

 

[Larry101]

My tank is new and from what ive read Randy say over and over again just to keep alk stable and no corals or very few just use baking soda and ive been doing that since my calcium doesnt change since nothings using it and my tank has been great and i do a water change only when nitrates get to 20 ppm other then that just mix a little baking soda with some tank water

less is more try doing 1/16th teaspoon of baking soda if it stays the same do an 1/8th and just check you will find how much you need to keep it stable at your 7.3dkh

id dose a very small amount of baking soda and re test the next day after doing that i figured out i only need like 1/16th of a teaspoon every 3 days to keep my alk pretty stable in between water changes

i maybe wrong in how i did it but your better off starting very small and uping the dose slowly until you get it stabalized

i hope i helped and didn’t give any wrong info
Just my personal experience and learning from R2R everyday =]

Do you know your alk consumption daily? Also, are you dosing dry baking soda to your tank?

 

[Don_Jorge]

their label gives calcium levels for up to 1.026 tho

 

[ssunthar]

Let's back up.

Exactly what problem do you have? Why do you want to reduce calcium?

I am using API test kit, my calcium is constantly over 520..

Let's back up.

Exactly what problem do you have? Why do you want to reduce calcium?

I am using API calcium tester and it constantly showing readings above 520 (I suspect that it is much much higher). My KH is hover around 9 - 13. My PH is at 7.8 - 8.2. I am not testing magnesium currently. As mine is a mixed reef tank, isn't very high calcium bad? Thanks.

 

[lazy josh]

Do you know your alk consumption daily? Also, are you dosing dry baking soda to your tank?

Yeah my alk consumption is .3 a day

i use baking soda i take the baking soda dump it in a cup take some tank water mix it to dissolve it then poir it into the tank

i know i dont need to do this because a weekly water change would be more then enough

but for selfish reasons maybe i just wanted to see if i can keep it stable

just follow the directions on brs site for dry sodium bicarbonate with your water volume it will tell tou houch you need to dose

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

just follow the directions on brs site for dry sodium bicarbonate with your water volume it will tell tou houch you need to dose

This calculator is a good way to determine the dose of many alk supplements, including sodium bicarbonate (baking soda):

Reef Chemistry Calculator

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I am using API test kit, my calcium is constantly over 520..
I am using API calcium tester and it constantly showing readings above 520 (I suspect that it is much much higher). My KH is hover around 9 - 13. My PH is at 7.8 - 8.2. I am not testing magnesium currently. As mine is a mixed reef tank, isn't very high calcium bad? Thanks.

You can get calcium levels higher just by keeping track of the titrant needed to get to the endpoint and add the values together. 500-550 ppm calcium is not a problem.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

how does one get 600 ppm calcium without dosing?

Test error, most likely.

Second most likely is salinity test error.

True bad batches of salt are pretty unusual.

 

[ssunthar]

You can get calcium levels higher just by keeping track of the titrant needed to get to the endpoint and add the values together. 500-550 ppm calcium is not a problem.

In my tests the drops sometimes go beyond 35 to reach the endpoint.. even after water change. Not sure if that too high and i should do something about it? Thanks.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

In my tests the drops sometimes go beyond 35 to reach the endpoint.. even after water change. Not sure if that too high and i should do something about it? Thanks.

keep going to get an actual value. Unless it is above 550 ppm, its not a problem, IMO.

 

[ssunthar]

Yeah my alk consumption is .3 a day

i use baking soda i take the baking soda dump it in a cup take some tank water mix it to dissolve it then poir it into the tank

i know i dont need to do this because a weekly water change would be more then enough

but for selfish reasons maybe i just wanted to see if i can keep it stable

just follow the directions on brs site for dry sodium bicarbonate with your water volume it will tell tou houch you need to dose

How you calculate alk consumption per day? Thanks.

 

[ssunthar]

keep going to get an actual value. Unless it is above 550 ppm, its not a problem, IMO.

Thanks, I suspect my calcium level could be about or over 550 as it takes over 35 API cal test drops to reach the endpoint (but I can't be sure). Just to clarify on what you said above... should let it adjust by its own over time or by using baking soda?

 

[bdare]

How you calculate alk consumption per day? Thanks.

Don't dose and test 24 hours apart

 

[lazy josh]

How you calculate alk consumption per day? Thanks.

Just test three or four days in a row at the same time and see how your alk changes then use brs calculator to find your dosing requirements
Then check weekly to make sure it isnt to much it should stay stable until things change in the tank like more corals/ growth or coralline algae

 

[ssunthar]

Don't dose and test 24 hours apart

Noted, thank you very much.

 

[ssunthar]

Just test three or four days in a row at the same time and see how your alk changes then use brs calculator to find your dosing requirements
Then check weekly to make sure it isnt to much it should stay stable until things change in the tank like more corals/ growth or coralline algae

Thank you for the guidelines.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How you calculate alk consumption per day? Thanks.

Either track it as it declines with no dosing (an imperfect method because the decline itself declines as the absolute alk value declines) , or determine the amount that you are currently dosing to keep it stable.