calcium up there!!!!

[gmatta]

ok did my tests tonight after work and here is my results
04-02-09
salinity-1.027
Ph-7.7+
Kh/Alk-8.3
Po4-0
Ca-730
NO3-0.5
NO2-0
Mg-1500
NH4-<0.25

I believe all is well except that low Ph, my question is why are my Ca and Mg so high I just have coral and shrimp and urchins? I have lots of zoo's, paly's, hammer, bubble, octobubble, 2 different candy cane or trumpets, 2 different plates, gorgonian, feather duster, and 2 different leathers, along with a bunch of shrooms, oh and a galaxia (spelling) with that load I would think my calcium would be used some what but I dont even dose my c-balance only do 10 gal. water changes every 2 weeks using Seachem reef salt in a 55 gal. tank with 2x150 HQI, barebottom, lots o liverock, and my coraline algae is kickin

 

[kel2682]

any pics?

 

[jer77]

You may want to re-check your calcium and alkalinity levels or make sure your test kits are still good. I may be wrong but calcium levels that high along with those alkalinity levels usually would mean CaCO3 would precipitate long beforehand. I'm unsure however because your pH levels are pretty low at 7.7 which allows more CaCO3 to remain dissolved.

 

[gmatta]

kits are new (a month tops) Salifert. I thought the same and did do tests actually 3x. Any help would be appreciated Im at a loss. and will post pics late tonight got school today and work till 11p.m.

 

[IslandCrow]

Check in the chemistry forum, but I don't think it's very likely you could actually keep that much calcium in solution, not to mention the fact that nothing you talked about is likely to raise the calcium to those levels. I think it's much more likely you have a bad test kit or tested the water incorrectly. When you say you did the test 3 times, did you use the same test kit? I think you see the problem with that if the kit itself is bad. Have you mixed up a new batch of saltwater and tested that. It would be a much less likely cause, but you could have a batch of salt that's extremely high in calcium and/or magnesium. I know you said you haven't been dosing C-balance, but do you dose any other chemicals to the tank?

 

[mikid]

?

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why is your salinity so high at 1.027,mixed up new salt for water change,thats a factor?..................

 

[gmatta]

no just hadnt done daily top off yet, I will mix up a new batch of water to do a H2o change its that time and I will measure new H2o and compare, and no I ad no other chemicals, just phyto and zooplankton,

 

[IslandCrow]

My best guess is a testing error then. 1500 magnesium may be possible if the salt mix is really high in magnesium, but 730 calcium is extremely unlikely.

 

[jbird69]

Does the health of your tank seem effected by it in anyway? Are you getting a lot of calcification at the water line?

 

[gmatta]

yes i have a yellow scroll that is lighting around the edges and dont know why also

 

[otrlynn]

Are you testing your s.g. with a hydrometer or a refractometer? If you are testing with a refractometer, which is much less accurate, your salinity could actually be higher than than the refractometer indicates, which could result in higher readings; though the 730 still seems excessively high.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

While not quite that high for calcium, some salt mixes have excessive calcium and magnesium that can contribute to high levels, and in the absence of massive overdosing, such salt mixes are the most frequent cause of high calcium and magnesium.