# calcium too high



## Letigrama (Jul 6, 2008)

so I just tested the calcium and sky rocketed to 540mg

So I checked the alk and of course, is super low, 1.6 

Ph seems to be between 8.2 and 8.4

What do you guys think, to be honest everything looks good, nothing is being affected. Should I try to raise ALK? how?

Thanks in advance, chemistry and I have our differences


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## Steel_Wind (Oct 26, 2013)

Uhm... the easiest way is to add kalk to raise Ph and alkalinity.

But your Calcium is already quite high. Hmm.

You sure on these test readings? Do you ordinarily dose with kalkwasser?


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

I think it's almost impossible to get y our Ca up to 540...

Unless you were dosing and your doser broke somehow. I'm pretty sure your corals would have shown some type of stress if this was the case.

Also your Ph is more relevant to your Alk and those numbers don't make any sense...









One of your tests are off for sure. What are you using to test?


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

I disagree today with Dave. to get 540 is easy, when you do not have sucking Calc corals and do regular WC. In the beginning I had close to 600, when I decided to play with chemistry

rise alkalinity to reduce calcium, but very slow using soda ash (baking soda)

this will work

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/ReefCarbonate.html

or this

ask somebody for small amount (~ 250gr) to make 1G of liquid. 
http://www.goreef.com/Bulk-Soda-Ash-Alkalinity-2375G-makes-5-gallons.html

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-calculator

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## ReefABCs (Nov 10, 2012)

If you are dosing Cal and Alk you need to adjust. Daily water changes will help bring things in line pretty quick.

My calcium hit 560 about a month ago when I hit the wrong adjustment on my dosing Liter meter by mistake and drained my 2 Lt calcium mix in now time. (I thought I was adjusting the water top off). Water changes fixed it.

if not dosing calc or alk check your test kits before making any quick changes besides water.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

That's exactly what I said!! Greg you need to go back and read what I said because I literally said the same thing you did....

You can't get those numbers unless you're dosing!!!

To achieve 560 with just WC's is fairly impossible unless your salinity was 1.045 or something


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

this will help

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/

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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

altcharacter said:


> That's exactly what I said!! Greg you need to go back and read what I said because I literally said the same thing you did....
> 
> You can't get those numbers unless you're dosing!!!
> 
> To achieve 560 with just WC's is fairly impossible unless your salinity was 1.045 or something


where did you see Russian, who know how to read 

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## Letigrama (Jul 6, 2008)

now,

Could the CAlcium test be expired???

It was from the previous owner but i dont have the box... is the 3 step nutrafin... it has to be at least 2/3 years old.

What I noticed is that when I put #2 solution, it already turned the water pink, and did not give indications of this to happen..... It say only with solution #3 first drop will turn pink,

Conclusion: I am getting a new calcium test before I play around.

yes, I dose Seachem reef every 2 weeks, but I always underdose a touch.... anyhow....

corals are not showing anything different,

BUT THE ALK test is fine, and is showing way to low... oh boy, is never been this low.

I ll see if anything changes in the meantime i will get a new calcium tester


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## Letigrama (Jul 6, 2008)

sig said:


> this will help
> 
> http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/


Greg, I fell asleep on the second page..... Whatta heck, I failed chemistry several times in high school...

We'll see. the low alkalinity concerns me more than the high calcium.


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## Letigrama (Jul 6, 2008)

sig said:


> I disagree today with Dave. to get 540 is easy, when you do not have sucking Calc corals and do regular WC. In the beginning I had close to 600, when I decided to play with chemistry
> 
> rise alkalinity to reduce calcium, but very slow using soda ash (baking soda)
> 
> ...


Greg- this product, will it be the same as my Target- ease- reef and marine PH buffer and alkalinity supplement> if i put this, wont drive my Ph even higher?
my fear is trying to raise ALK and raise PH even more, is quite high now


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

Letigrama said:


> Greg- this product, will it be the same as my Target- ease- reef and marine PH buffer and alkalinity supplement> if i put this, wont drive my Ph even higher?
> my fear is trying to raise ALK and raise PH even more, is quite high now


this product should not increase PH, but please read descriptions in the link provided and more important - *don't add anything until you are 100% sure that values tested are correct*

I personally liked API alkalinity test for *SW* - cheap and shows correct values

one more thing - this product is expensive. Contact Phil (wiseguys) and get from him prepackaged (to make 1G) dry soda ash and calcium or get these in BRS or goreef.. 
When combined these are 2 part solution, but.. I hated to use Kalkwasser, because it was always blocking drop devices.

I found that for my 150G (with many SPS and LPS), I should add daily 100ml of Alk and Calk. I did it manually and it worked for me. But first you should have all parameters in check. I never tested magnesium and somehow survived without it. Alk should be added very slow, since it is not diffuses very well in the water, when added in volumes.

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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Before you do anything head over to NAFB and get yourself a Salifert test kit. They are 25% off this week and well worth it if you're going to stay in the hobby for a bit. 

Salifert is the only company that actively puts expiration dates on their chemicals. Ask Aquaman1 about testing...he bought a kit then threw it out and bought salifert


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## noy (Nov 19, 2012)

altcharacter said:


> Before you do anything head over to NAFB and get yourself a Salifert test kit. They are 25% off this week and well worth it if you're going to stay in the hobby for a bit.
> 
> Salifert is the only company that actively puts expiration dates on their chemicals. Ask Aquaman1 about testing...he bought a kit then threw it out and bought salifert


Good advice from Dave/Greg. The dkH value seems out of whack at that level of pH. As pH rises so does the soluabilty of carbonate - so generally alk goes up. Also, not sure how you are measuring pH but you may want to check that over too.

Just keep in mind, soda ash will increase pH, also kalkwasser has the potential to lower alk depending on CO2 levels in your tank.

I wish my calcium levels were that high!


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## gtareef (Feb 19, 2012)

I agree with Dave and Greg. Get a new test kit before making any changes to the system. Salifert is an excellent choice. 

If you need to make a change, do it slowly or do a water change. Patience is a virtue.


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## Letigrama (Jul 6, 2008)

ok guys so im getting a new Calcium kits, preferably salifer.

then well see. 

In regards to the ALK..... i tested again, still 1.6 so im freaking out, so, ok, call me whatever you want  i read the instructions one more time...it says freaking 10ml of water instead 5ml. Stupid me. these tests are all different. of course I test it again with 10ml now and the alk is a happy 3.6, so we're happy



i will get a new calcium test. if is still this high, ill see how to bring it down. I wont dose for now  thank all for the moral support to a stupid chick


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## noy (Nov 19, 2012)

Letigrama said:


> ok guys so im getting a new Calcium kits, preferably salifer.
> 
> then well see.
> 
> ...


ha, did the same thing on a saifert PO4 test.

If the reading is 3.6 meg/l that translates to about 10dKH - that's totally normal and nothing to worry about. If your reading is 3.6 dKH - its still pretty low.

As for the calcium test - if your test is like the saifert (titration) the second reagent will turn the solution pink and the third reagent then turns it bluish/purple and give you your reading. If you are not getting visible precipitation (i.e. white calcium carbonate deposits on your rocks and substrate) you really don't need to worry about calcium levels being too high. Once you start adding livestock that use up calcium (SPS or clams for example) it will go down automatically.


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## deeznutz (Aug 21, 2013)

Looking at your Ca is 540 and your dkh is 4.5, seems about right. High Ca will always lead to low DKH and vise-versa.

In this event, even if these readings are correct which I believe they are, dosing alk will not fix your problem. You will start a snow storm as the CA and Alk will start to precipitate right in the water column. There's a good read on it by Randy Holmes. 
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/

Your Mag might be out as well. Your best bet is to do water changes to get things back to normal. Your chemistry is mostly likely out of balance.

When you dose, you have to do a water test before you dose, an hour after and 24 hours afterwards to determine consumption. When in doubt, change the water out!

HTH

-dan


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Leti, if everything looks alright, there's really no reason to start panicking and tweaking things that really don't need adjusting.

As suggested, new kits and doing tests right p) can certainly help. If you'd like to see your parameters at a certain place (every system has it's ideal range, and no single number is perfect), adjusting your dosing schedule slowly would be key -especially if everything looks happy right now. 

As Dan suggested though, big WCs never really hurt. Give you a chance to readjust things from a relatively even level.


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## Flameangel (Sep 25, 2013)

I have an SPS dominated tank and a little over a dozen snails plus alot of coralline algae growing on all three sides of tank,I maintain my calcium at 500 ppm and Alk at 12 dKh.Your Calcium will generally come down by itself in 2 to 3 days so need not be alarmed coz it's only 40 ppm over....that is nothing.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

I think everyone needs to understand that she doesn't dose. Everyone keeps talking about how 500 isn't that big of a deal but if you don't dose this shouldn't happen


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## Flameangel (Sep 25, 2013)

If one do not dose and suddenly Calcium test shoots high then there's only one reason....Calcium test kit is EXPIRED.Where would you get a calcium that high without dosing it?


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## ReefABCs (Nov 10, 2012)

Letigrama said:


> now,
> 
> Could the CAlcium test be expired???
> 
> ...


Leti says she doses Seachem every 2 weeks I assume its Seachem calcium based buffer.

if not Dosing, its either test kit of very high Salinity as I have not seen anyone have high Calcium without buffer/reactor or high Salinity.


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## Letigrama (Jul 6, 2008)

ReefABCs said:


> Leti says she doses Seachem every 2 weeks I assume its Seachem calcium based buffer.
> 
> if not Dosing, its either test kit of very high Salinity as I have not seen anyone have high Calcium without buffer/reactor or high Salinity.


Correct guys- I dose 

Seachem calcium magnesium and strontium every two weeks.

We wil buy a new test kit for the calcium and i wont dose for now until I can test again.


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## deeznutz (Aug 21, 2013)

Letigrama said:


> Greg- this product, will it be the same as my Target- ease- reef and marine PH buffer and alkalinity supplement> if i put this, wont drive my Ph even higher?
> my fear is trying to raise ALK and raise PH even more, is quite high now





Flameangel said:


> I have an SPS dominated tank and a little over a dozen snails plus alot of coralline algae growing on all three sides of tank,I maintain my calcium at 500 ppm and Alk at 12 dKh.Your Calcium will generally come down by itself in 2 to 3 days so need not be alarmed coz it's only 40 ppm over....that is nothing.


Ca @500 and Dkh @ 12? Wow 
What's your mag at?

I didn't think you can get both that high without precipitation happening. You must run a tight ship. Are you not worried about the alk being on the upper limits?

Sorry for the hijack. Just curious

-dan


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## Flameangel (Sep 25, 2013)

deeznutz said:


> Ca @500 and Dkh @ 12? Wow
> What's your mag at?
> 
> I didn't think you can get both that high without precipitation happening. You must run a tight ship. Are you not worried about the alk being on the upper limits?
> ...


Magnesium level @ 1500 ppm.Every tank has it's own measure of success ,mine just happen to be in the max water level parameters but my sps,snails,clam and fish are happy.


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