Calcium stuck

[mgrmax]

Hello all,

My calcium has been stuck at 480 for a week. I have a decent amount of corals like frogspawn, acans etc that should be gobbling it up. My levels are good with salt at 1025, alk 8.6, mag 1450, no phosphates or nitrates and no algae. Any idea what is causing the stall?

Thanks!

 

[hegeh]

Because its low consuming. Not sure how big is ur corals, i assume is small and tank packed with sps & lps

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[bertoni]

What has the alkalinity consumption been? Corals consume alkalinity and calcium at a fairly fixed ratio of 2.8 dKH per 20 ppm calcium.

 

[Bagabaga]

Are you still dosing calcium from two part? If it's stuck then it sounds stable

 

[mgrmax]

Thanks for the input so far folks. The alk is being consumed, the cal is not being consumed. I use a peristaltic pump and have turned off the calcium all together because the Calcium is stuck. Generally, my tank has consumed alk and cal at around the same rate. Its very odd

 

[steallife904]

I have the same issue right now. my alk is being consumed but calc will not drop under 500. I have done water changes, turned off my doser and still cant get it under 500????? Does nutrients affect how much they consume? I have always thought I was feeding heavy enough (feed frozen everyday and sometimes mix in pellets and flakes) but I have never got a phosphate or nitrate reading. Sooooo maybe I need to feed even more and then wonder if this would affect the calc consumption? Or am I way off here?

 

[greengeco82]

Calcium takes forever to lower. Alk lowers rather fast. Going from 500 to 400 could take a week or more. Just quit dosing Ca and keep dosing Alk until you get the numbers you want.

 

[bertoni]

Water changes can keep the calcium level high in a lot of tanks. Just another possibility to consider.

 

[Pond Boy]

I do find that the uptake of calcium and up take of nutes are related. Like other I would cut back on calcium just dose for alk. Please post back if it works.

 

[mgrmax]

Thanks for the suggestions. It's just odd, considering the 2 go hand and hand. I haven't added any calcium in more than a week so I will report back when it dips :hammer:

 

[Andrew D]

May also want to check your test kit against another.

 

[mgrmax]

Still staying between 460 and 480. I just ordered a salifert kit. I will post results when it arrives. Perplexing.

 

[steallife904]

i stopped dosing calc and alk. i am going to try dosing alk again to see if it will bring calc down. Current talk is 7.4 and calc over 500. will try to bring all to 8 and see if the calc comes down.

 

[bertoni]

Given the problems that we see sometimes with test kits, I'd be tempted to keep the alkalinity level a bit higher, to give some leeway. Once the alkalinity starts dropping below 6.5 dKH or so, calcification will slow or stop.

 

[mgrmax]

Still haven't added any calcium. It has stayed at around 480. Crazy

 

[mgrmax]

Still haven't added any calcium. The level is stuck at 460. How can the corals not consume calcium? The only additive has been alk which is hovering around 9.9. I did a water change about 2 weeks ago using reef crystals. Is there enough calcium in the salt to to provide for a month? The corals look good. Fish and clean up crew are doing well. This is puzzling!

 

[Bagabaga]

If they look good then I wouldn't worry too much. Keep it regular and stable and it will eventually fluctuate.

 

[Brieninsac]

Your Mg is kinda high, maybe that's why your Ca isn't going down.

 

[ADVRESOURCE]

High mg is good. Just dose alk to reduce the CA. When both get high, stop dosing and retest. Adjust as necessary. All is good!