Calcium Troubles.

[Blake_Cond]

Hi All,

I'm having real good success with the coral color program. I'm adding 1ml of A, B, C, D. Before I was adding 2 tablespoons of Seachem Reef Advantage calcium in 600ml of water then dosing 60ml of that every day. My calcium level was around 450ppm. When I ran out I decided to go with Red Sea's additives, so I added 10ml of Foundation A in hopes to maintain my current calcium level but it diminished to 320ppm. So I dosed 40ml tested 10 minutes later it was around 420-430ppm I dosed this around 8:30pm. Then at 10:30am the following day my levels were at 320ppm again (I dosed 2ml of foundation C and 5ml of foundation B to maintain my levels at 1500ppm magnesium and 8 dKH before I tested calcium). So I'm confused to why my calcium level dropped 100ppm overnight (I know alkalinity buffer lowers calcium level but it shouldn't decrease it by 100ppm). So should I increase my dosage to 40ml of foundation I seriously think this is too high of a dosage such a premium product. Below is my system details. Also any feedback on my current chemistry.

Reef System:
100 lt (25 gallons)
Calcium: 320 ppm (will dose 40ml at 10:30pm on 6/01/2015)
dKH: 8
Magnesium: 1500 ppm
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0

Livestock:
7 Acropora Frags.
2 Montipora Frags.
1 Millepora Frag.
1 Birdsnest Frag.
1 Clam.
1 Juvenile Pacific Sail Fin Tang (I know this is really bad for a tang to be in a 25 gallon tank but It's 4cm big and upgrading to a 105 gallon in a few months)

 

[bertoni]

I agree that 100 ppm overnight indicates some sort of problem, most likely. Are there any signs of precipitation, like tan-colored or off-white buildups on the heater or tank surfaces, or maybe inside pumps? What were the alkalinity measurements? Any signs of cloudy water?

 

[Blake_Cond]

Alk is 8, water is clear just some micro bubbles from the skimmer. As for white build-ups, I have these little critters that are some sort of invertebrate, looking closer at them they have filter coming out at night. It's on the glass and pumps, LFS says they're snail larvae.

 

[bertoni]

I would measure the alkalinity and calcium at the same time every day for a few days, and dose them back into the target zones, as needed, and see what's happening. I might get a second opinion on the calcium kit, too. I'm not sure what's happening just yet.

 

[Blake_Cond]

Just went to get my water tested with the Red Sea pro test kits. The following are my parameters.
Kh - 9.1 dkh
Cal - 510ppm
Mag - 1200ppm
Phos - 0.14ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
What do you think of the parameters? I know that my calcium is too high and phosphate is high as well but I'm pretty happy with those levels. Think I'll dose 20ml of Reef Foundation A hopefully that'll make the levels around 420-430ppm.

 

[bertoni]

Those numbers are acceptable, although I agree that the calcium and phosphate are a bit higher than usually recommended. Did you mean that you expect 520-530 ppm of calcium after using?

 

[Blake_Cond]

I'm aiming for 420-430ppm, phosphate will lower as I'm in the middle of vodka dosing.