High Ca

[Jellyingabout]

A small 1g pico with no dosing but somehow my Ca is high.

 

S.g: 1.0255

Ca: 620ppm

dKH: 10

PO4: 0.0ppm

NO3: 10ppm

 

Can't figure it out? I don't even use Ca/dKH boasted salt, just the IO stuff at the moment,

 

Coral all seem fine apart from an acro frag that has yet to show polyp extension after 1 week of being in the tank.

[Mariaface]

Do you have a test for magnesium? It's got to be decent if both calcium and alk are so high, but it's good to check.

 

Did you make sure your salt was thoroughly mixed before using it?

[Jellyingabout]

No i don't test Mg but i have an old Mg test kit i could use. Dunno how much i'd trust it though, but i never normally test Mg as i can infer whether its good or not from Ca & KH.

 

Salt was definitely mixed well over night, salinity is fine, its only Ca that's high. Is this Ca even a problem? I'm just thinking it may be worth leaving since my dKH is so good, which is pretty hard to get right considering its a 1g pico tank.

[Mariaface]

I didn't mean the saltwater. I meant the salt, in the bucket/bag. It's possible for it to settle and give you readings off from what the manufacturer says. It's also possible that it's a bad bag/batch in general.

[CJJon]

I have had this issue when mixing small batches of regular salt mix. My issue was I had a 200g bucket of salt that I would use to make between 1 and 5 gallons at a time. The problem is that the mix wasn't homogeneous throughout. The trick is to mix or stir up the entire load of salt and then take out your 1-5 gallons worth and mix that up.

 

One of the reasons I switched to ESV salt.

[smeagol108]

I have had this issue when mixing small batches of regular salt mix. My issue was I had a 200g bucket of salt that I would use to make between 1 and 5 gallons at a time. The problem is that the mix wasn't homogeneous throughout. The trick is to mix or stir up the entire load of salt and then take out your 1-5 gallons worth and mix that up.

 

One of the reasons I switched to ESV salt.

 

Curious, what salt did you have this issue with?

[Jellyingabout]

Just tested the salt mix, and it also read high. however I used an old Ca test kit (very old) and it ready 380. i'm half inclined to believe the old one.

[Mariaface]

So are you saying it might be your current calcium test kit? :x

[Jellyingabout]

yeah it could be, but its brand new and the test kit reading 380ppm is very old. They are both giving consistant results I just don't know which to believe?

Does anyone know how old salifert Ca kits age? do they tend to read high or low?

[CJJon]

 

Curious, what salt did you have this issue with?

 

Tropic Marin. However, any bulk salt mix you buy has the potential for the same problem. The solution is to mix up all the salt dry--so dump your bucket of salt mix into a brute can and mix the hell out of it--before you measure it out and mix it with water.

yeah it could be, but its brand new and the test kit reading 380ppm is very old. They are both giving consistant results I just don't know which to believe?

Does anyone know how old salifert Ca kits age? do they tend to read high or low?

They do expire and should have a date on the box someplace.

[Jellyingabout]

The old one passed its expiration about a month ago. but i tested Mg too with a test kit just as old and it read a touch low.

 

High dKH and slightly low Ca and Mg is more believable to me than high everything with no dosing at all. Especially because i do mix my salt regularly and 620ppm would need to be an extremely unhomogenouse batch of salt??

 

Maybe I won't know until I get yet another kit, or get it tested at the LFS. Can Ca this high be damaging?

[CJJon]

As long as your dKH stays stable you should be OK. If it goes any higher, the Ca may precipitate out.

[Jellyingabout]

non precipitation so far, ill bring the Ca to normal levels very slowly with water changes, just in case it is high.

[Weasel Baron]

just to get some basic questions out of the way: you sure youre only using 2ml of water to test w/ your salifert kit? more than 2ml would give a false high reading.

 

just keep an eye on dkh and supplement w/ baking soda till your Ca falls to a reasonable level, dont worry about the water changes as that will likely just stress things out even more

[Jellyingabout]

Yep definitely doing it right, been using the test kits for years. plus they only give you a 2ml syringe so its pretty idiot proof.

 

I always feel off about dosing since my tank is only 4L (6L with the cannister filter) there's just no room to be even the smallest bit off. I would have thought water changes would be less stress if it took it slow and brought if all to temp, s.g and pH?

Its very easy to change 100% of the water in a tank this small over the period of a day

[Weasel Baron]

Yeah that's a tiny tank. If you don't mind some extra Ca precipitate on your heater then I wouldn't worry about it. if you want to do water changes then yeah you're right, it wouldnt take long to get everything back down. You could use just enough baking soda in your top off water to get it up to a dkh of around 10 if your worried about swings

[Jellyingabout]

that's a thought I just really want to keep the dKH good as i have frags less than 1 week into the tank that have already shown signs of growth, don't want to ruin it while its good.