Calcium levels

[gonegofn]

Hi All
I have been trying to get the calcium level above 360 in my 50 gal reef tank, for several months. I have tried several two parts systems including Randy Holmes-Farley DIY solutions of calcium, buffer and magnesium. I've tried KALK and I've tried different calcium additives and buffers. I have several sps' and lps', so I would like to at least have my calcium around 400 and more if possible. No matter what I try, it will not budge of 360 and I have tried two different tests myself and had different lfs test it and we all get the same thing. also, I'm not getting any calcium percipitation. My parameters are as follows:

Amonia and Nitrates are both at zero.
Nitrate is almost zero
PH stays at 8.3
Alk is 4 meq/L
Magnesium is 1500 ppm

Does anyone have any ideas as what to check next?

 

[JeffandMindy]

Damn if I know.
I was gonna say..it might be your Mag levels.
But they seem ok.

Heck..anyone got any ideas?
lol

 

[hookdonreefs]

Its because your alk is a little on the high side. Calcium and alk are tied together. 360 is fine as long as your alk stays where its at. If you want it higher let your alk drop. I wouldnt worry about it though. I had similar readings as yours and my branching hammer split all its heads and was growing like crazy. Its prob better to have high alk than calcium to keep your ph stable.

 

[gonegofn]

Thanks for the info. I knew they were tied, but I thought I needed to keep both numbers.
Thanks again!!!