Calcium through RO?

[Mike 1911A1]

I just added my first coral today (hammer frag). I bought a calcium supplement and test kit. The water i'm using is tap that goes through an RO unit. I tested the tank water for calcium before I added any supplement and it tested at about 380ppm!?! Is it normal to expect tap water run through an RO to have such high calcium?...Or is there another source for the calcium in my tank? Any thoughts are appreciated.

Mike

 

[Mike 1911A1]

Anyone?

 

[TheMcs]

I've heard of some well water having extremely high calcium. Some salts introduce high levels of calcium. Substrate and base rock can also add to calcium levels to a small degree.

 

[Mike 1911A1]

Ok, I just added some cured LR and LS. Maybe that's why it's higher than I expected. Thanks,

Mike

 

[Jacob D]

It's primarily from your salt (Instant Ocean?). You might have slightly elevated calcium levels in your tap water as well. Freshly mixed Oceanic salt tests as high as 450-500 ppm of calcium.

Don't forget to test your Alkalinity also! This is just as, if not more important than calcium for coral health and growth.

 

[Mike 1911A1]

I did use instant ocean. When you say test for Alkalinity, are you talking about PH? My PH is at 8.3.

Mike

 

[rustybucket145]

PH and alkalinity are different. Alkalinity is sometimes referred to as 'carbonate hardness' From what I have read in your post everything seems normal. Instant Ocean Salt is where your calcium levels are coming from. Although, most people start off with soft corals ie, mushrooms, colt coral, toadstool leather (sarcophyton) but if everything seems happy...... I'm just curious, what type of calcium additive did you purchase?

 

[Mike 1911A1]

I purchased a product from Seachem along with a carbonate additive (sounds like that's for alkilinity). I just purchased an alkilinity kit to test with also. The new coral does seem happy but it's only been in the tank for a little over a day. Any and all help on corals is appreciated. I can't read fast enough to learn everything I don't know (it's fun though).

Mike