High Ca levels report

[ldballoon4]

I have been up with my tanks maintenance. Changing the water weekly, maintaining ph of 8.2

N03 hovering now about 20ppm, everything is fine though.

 

My PO4 is virtually undetectable.

Temp aver 81

 

My Calcium levels have been over 500ppm. (Salifert)

 

I have not dosed with any additives other than WC. I use Oceanic salt.

 

So far the inhabitants are not effect, or so I believe.

 

Im wondering how if any way to reduce the Ca levels to 450 range?

 

What will happen in a high Ca level nano?

 

Im also pointing in the direction of my ro/filter , membrane.

 

I think that may be the problem, unfortuneatly I do not own a TDS meter....yet.

 

thanks in advance.

[jimbo327]

High calcium will usually deposit on your heaters and pumps.

[ezcompany]

high ca is very dangerous

[MrAnderson]

I have been up with my tanks maintenance. Changing the water weekly, maintaining ph of 8.2

N03 hovering now about 20ppm, everything is fine though.

 

My PO4 is virtually undetectable.

Temp aver 81

 

My Calcium levels have been over 500ppm. (Salifert)

 

I have not dosed with any additives other than WC. I use Oceanic salt.

 

So far the inhabitants are not effect, or so I believe.

 

Im wondering how if any way to reduce the Ca levels to 450 range?

 

What will happen in a high Ca level nano?

 

Im also pointing in the direction of my ro/filter , membrane.

 

I think that may be the problem, unfortuneatly I do not own a TDS meter....yet.

 

thanks in advance.

 

it's the salt not your RO membrane, Oceanic users report Ca levels between 530 and 550ppm. no problem really, except for your nitrates.

[ezcompany]

it's the salt not your RO membrane, Oceanic users report Ca levels between 530 and 550ppm. no problem really, except for your nitrates.

you are risking mass precipitation and high ph levels!

[Louie3]

I used to use ocianic salt ( cheap at my lfs), and I had levels of 600+ from a crappy Cal test kit then I got a salifert and it read 720ppm and I didnt dose anything. I slowly changed from Ocianic to Instant Ocean with better results

[MrAnderson]

you are risking mass precipitation and high ph levels!

 

sorry, you are absolutely right. i was speaking in my own mental context that i've **heard** that Oceanic is a "special" case in that the formulation can support those normally fux0red Ca levels.

[ldballoon4]

Im sure im not the only one with the high Ca levels.......anyone else want to chime in?

 

The NO3 problems still there, but better than it was a month ago....

 

Unless there is a problem I really dont want to switch salts, but 500 ppm does not sound good .

[udrongo]

I use oceanic and have always had high Ca levels (e.g. in the 500s after a water change). Haven't had any problems (knock on wood), but it does mean I usually only dose part 1 of B-ionic.

[dtfleming]

I use Oceanic, and the highest cal lvl was 450ppm. I currently going to switch to Red Sea pro salt because of using RO water. Also Ive noticed the Oceanic has poor buffer capacity.

[ldballoon4]

Im leading into the fact that its not really the brand of salt mix, but the size of the tank, as well as the live stock in it.

 

I can only assume that if you have a large tank, more than 50g , stocked with a decent amount of thriving growing coral, the high Ca would be no problem. Since it would be used up rapidly.

 

But a smaller nano without an abundance of Ca eating corals, the rate of Ca stays high. Not enough to be consumed before the next WC, which will of course re-up the level once again.

 

 

Suppose I switch over to the Finnex 30 gal tank, and put let say a 2 clams with a decent amount of sps coral, the Oceanic salt may well be perfect.

 

But in my Ap 12 wich at best has mostly softies, I will always have a high Ca with WC and throughout the week.

 

I think this is my conclusion, Feel free to agree or not.

very interesting.

 

Seems I should switch to a low or no Ca grade salt mix, and just top with Kalkwasser.

[newowner]

My CA runs about 480-520 and I use Oceanic salt. I do not dose anything, but I did buy purple up to try to get coraline algea and have not been able to use it because the level is so high.

I did not make the connection to the increase Ca level and the water changes. I tested it one day and it was 460 and I changed water a couple days later and then tested it a few days after that, and it was 560. I could not figure it out.

I asked a kid at the LFS and he could not explain it, but now it makes sense. I did buy Instant Ocean for the next time.

I am assuming the previous LFS store that I had been buying my pre-mixed saltwater must have been using Oceanic then, because my Ca has always been high.

My corals look great however.

[Louie3]

My old 75g Had that high Cal level with coral everywhere, It read that 650ppm I slowly changed the water by using IO and had greater results with the buffer capicity

[ezcompany]

My old 75g Had that high Cal level with coral everywhere, It read that 650ppm I slowly changed the water by using IO and had greater results with the buffer capicity

 

what test kit did you use

[mattyice]

a high Ca level is not bad at all if the other levels are high along with it, for instance the Italian Blu Coral Method states that to create massive growth along with great ployp extension and incredible color you are supposed to stablize your tank at higher then normal levels for 6 months to a year and then feed heavily with pappone while maintaining the high levels and no nitrates, nitrites, and phosphates which are...

 

pH-8.1

Ca-500+

Alk-12

Mag-1500+

SG-1.025-1.026

[MyCatsDrool]

i <3 Tropic marin

[benzou]

I've read from a few sources that high calcium levels are not dangerous to corals.

 

I'll try to find it, but once place I've read actually claims that readings of 450 calcium in sea water don't actually take into account the calcium taken out by corals, and that the proper calcium level you should keep in your tank is closer to 600.

 

I have a high calcium level 500+ in my tank, and my corals do fine. I think your other paramenters have to be good as well.

 

Don't forget stronium, iodine, and other trace elements.

[MrAnderson]

i don't think anyone is claiming high calcium is bad for coral health. but the problem with high calcium is that precipitation of CaCO3 is directly dependent on Ca concentration ([Ca]), along with [HCO3], temp, pH, [Mg] . If you have high [Ca], and one day you get a pH or temp spike, carbonate and calcium will come out of solution to the rate limiting component and will shock your corals. they might be ok with a Ca of 800, but they certainly won't like a dKH of <1.0. and if that happens, all you can do is wait for the snow to go back into solution, because adding buffer will only exacerbate the problem.

[Maeda]

Can somebody perhaps tell me why my calcium precipitates even though my levels are reporting at 350ppm?

 

I know what I would tell me right now.

 

Did you try a different test kit? And NOT YET. If anyone wants to drop by and test my calcium that would be awesome.

[MrAnderson]

hi pH, hi temp (that's why people see it on their heater), imbalanced alk (can be both too high or too low), low mag, heavy Ca and/or alk dosing/overdosing can drive the reaction (like kalk)...

 

how are you seeing this Ca precip? it's not snowing in your tank, is it? if it's white stuff caked on your heater it's just localized high temp on the heater surface causing it, not a big concern.

[Hinecken]

I've been using Oceanic salt for quite a while now in all my tanks. If I don't dose, my calcium reads at 420ppm 24 hours after a waterchange, and my dKH at 80. Out of curiosity, what brands of test kits are you guys using with the Oceanic salt? This is the first I'm hearing of the obscenely high calcium levels with this brand of salt.

[MrAnderson]

what does it read for freshly mixed water before it goes into your tank?

[Hinecken]

reads right around 440 before going in, but I never ever trust those readings. (Unless you mix for at least 24 hours, which I don't) I generally only test salinity before going from bucket to tank. IMHO even though the salt may appear disolved to the naked eye, I'm quite positive that there are quite a few particulates still in suspension that would cause false readings. That's why I wait 24 hours to allow everything to adjust and go into solution. You guys are all going to probably freak on this, but I'm tried the salifert kits, nature reef kits, and a few others... my favorite is old school Hagen brand test kits. They've worked for me for over 10 years and are the cheapest.

[MrAnderson]

nah i ain't gonna freak, i mean whatever works, right? besides, everyone raves about salifert, but i prefer seachem, which no one hardly ever mentions. i like it because it comes with a standard sample/positive control to calibrate the kit, so even if it IS off, you can see by how much and compensate. but it's always been accurate for me. it's also good for seeing if an older kit is off.

 

oh, just thought of this - i've read that the high readings for Oceanic are because they design for a SG of 1.021-3 or something? so that when people mix up 1.025 it's off by a certain amount... what's your SG?

[Maeda]

hi pH, hi temp (that's why people see it on their heater), imbalanced alk (can be both too high or too low), low mag, heavy Ca and/or alk dosing/overdosing can drive the reaction (like kalk)...

 

how are you seeing this Ca precip? it's not snowing in your tank, is it? if it's white stuff caked on your heater it's just localized high temp on the heater surface causing it, not a big concern.

 

It happens when I dose.

My dosing pump flicks on and then it begins to snow. o.O

I stopped happening already but, I woudl like an explination.

 

I think I just raised my magnesium like 200ppm to try and correct the imbalance.

 

My tank is a real juggling act. It uses gallons of twopartsolution in a month.