why my Ca is so high?

[jbradley007]

im at 600ppm
what would be some reasons?
i dose it once a week...
and do 2 10% water changes a week
the water comes from the local fish store... should i start making my own mixes?

im using Bionic Alk and the Ca and thats it.

my pH is a little low too 8.0

any suggestions would help thanks. just trying to get my water perfect.

 

[bertoni]

Have you tested some water straight from the store?

What is the alkalinity in your tank?

The B-Ionic dosage needs to be tuned for each tank, so you might just need to some some experimentation there. Measuring alkalinity each day at the same time and dosing accordingly usually will give you a pretty clear picture in a week or so.

 

[jdieck]

As mentioned by bertoni, test and dose not the other way around.
Your consumtion may be small or the calium in your water changes may be high, track Alkalinity also as high Calcium low PH may indicate low Alkalinity.

 

[jbradley007]

the store water is at 500

 

[bertoni]

Okay, I would guess that you're dosing a bit more B-Ionic than the tank needs.

I would recommend getting an alkalinity test kit. They're inexpensive (cheaper than Ca), and alkalinity is a critical parameter.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'd add just the alkalinity part of the B-ionic (or baking soda) to maintain normal alkalinity (2.5-4 meq/L; 7-11 dKH) and let the calcium decline over a week to a few weeks.

This article may help:

Solving Calcium and Alkalinity Problems
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm