High level of calcium?

X

xenia2

New member
Bought the RedSea calcium test kit yesterday and tested this morning and I'm unable to get the right color according to the color chart. Could it be my calcium level off the chart? I've been dosing Kent A&B and never tested until now.

Any ideas?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13796750#post13796750 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nwrogers
The RedSea calcium test kit is not very good. I would go with Elos as well...

BTW I would strongly recommend against making any adjustments to your water parameters based on a reading from a RedSea test kit. Cheap or old test kits can be off by large margins and making adjustments based on readings from those kits can cause lots of problems in your tank.
Click to expand...

X2

Very good advice from one of the best.
 
the fact that you have been dosing A & B could have caused you to go off the charts on the high end.... I would discontinue dosing until you get a good reading... if you want I could do a test for you...
 
It took two years before I could keep more advanced SPS in my tank. drbronx gave me a 1x1 piece of cap that went through hell but lived and grew despite my incompetence at keeping SPS. The orange cap he gave me seems to be a very hardy SPS coral. I could frag a piece for you if you want as an indicator coral for your tank at no charge. When it starts to grow you know your ready for a piece of intermediate coral. As you get better and your tank matures you can buy better more advanced hard to keep corals. Good luck
 
Just as a check and only a check. Mix up a gallon of fresh salt water. Use your kit to check the CA level of it. It wont be to high that is for sure. Maybe 300 or so. I am not a fan of red sea kits either but they shouldnt be so far off so that you cant get a reading of some kind. You may very well be to high if you havent tested for CA but still add it. Never add anything with out knowing what your adding is actually needed.
 
The only sps still look alive is the purple cap, or at least it is still purple and not brown/white. But I don't see any sign of growth.

Assuming my CA level is off, would a water change down it down?
 
Xenia2,

That's within an acceptable range.

I use Seachem tests with a good success and you can get the pretty inexpensively on eBay.
 
The API test kit isn't bad IMO. It is definitely the best of the inexpensive ones. 420 - 480 ppm isn't bad it is a little high but not nearly high enough to kill SPS. In fact I doubt you could get calcium high enough to kill SPS without having it precipitate and cause a snow storm. I am not a chemist but that is what I would guess. I would look else where for problems. Have you tested your phosphate levels? That is an important thing to test for if you are losing SPS. If phosphate levels are low then I would think about making sure the tank has adequate flow. Make sure the flow isn't aimed directly at the sps but over the top of it and make sure you have enough. I would recommend 25x as an absolute minimum for SPS. If flow is not an issue I would recommend looking for coral eating pests once the lights go out. Hunt for them with a flash light and see if you have a crab or something else that could be eating the corals. I suspect phosphate or flow as the issues but I wouldn't rule out some kind of coral eating pest.
 
*This is just a side note but somewhat related..

In reference to Kent's comment about high Calcium... I know it's possible to have really high calcium levels and have corals (soft or stony) thrive as long as the alkalinity is high too and the pH is low.

How I know this is because in one of my tanks the calcium is 550, Alk is 19 dKH, and pH is 7.7.

My current list of coral is...
5 types of mushrooms
Kenya tree
green candycanes
GSP (way too much! - and soon will start fragging)
frogspawn
wrinkle coral (Coscinaraea columna) - growing like crazy!
toadstool
Blue Snowflake Cloves
Pulsating Xenia (thanks Adam!)

I'm not dosing anything other than trace elements and feeding Coral Frenzy once a week and everything is very happy and growing... and I haven't done a water change in 2 months.
 
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Here's an old pic of it taken shortly after getting it... it is now grown beyond the frag disk and onto the rock...

Note... this is a really bad pic. I plan on getting some nicer pics after I get the tank moved and rearranged.

IMGP0317.jpg
 
Tested my water this AM and the phosphate level from RedSea is 0.1 ppm. How about specific gravity? I've using the old hydrometer.
 
What type of hydrometer do you have?


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13814238#post13814238 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xenia2
Tested my water this AM and the phosphate level from RedSea is 0.1 ppm. How about specific gravity? I've using the old hydrometer.
Click to expand...
 
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I have a Coralife hyrometer. As far the flow, I have a returning pump from in the back rated at 200gph and two karolia nano. Lighting I have a 70Watt Sunpod, adequate for SPS?

current picture of the tank.

picture14vc2.png
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13814238#post13814238 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xenia2
Tested my water this AM and the phosphate level from RedSea is 0.1 ppm. How about specific gravity? I've using the old hydrometer.
Click to expand...

Oh I can't believe I didn't think about that. It could very likely be salinity. SPS like the salt level as close to natural salt water as possible. I usually recommend keeping the salt levels at a specific gravity between 1.024 and 1.026, I keep mine at 1.025. I also highly recommend getting a refractometer if you are getting into more sensitive animals like SPS corals since they are more sensitive unnatural salt levels. Here is one just like the one I use...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9957

One of the things I like most about refractometers is that they have automatic temperature correction whereas with the hydrometers you have to adjust your salinity results depending on the temperature of the water in your tank using a conversion table after doing the reading. Its not a super complicated calculation. Basically most hydrometers are calibrated at 60°F so you have to add 0.002 to the result of the hydrometers reading. If you don't know this and you are aiming for 1.025 or 1.026 you could be in big trouble. Aren't you glad you asked :D
 
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