can u overdose calcium?

[deacon hemp]

my friends minibow that usually take care of is a little wonky right now,salifert says over 500 calcium?my friend went a little overboard on the kent calcium,he's new to reefing.So i haven't been over there in a week, i come to see his tank and holy crap his corals are twice the size!xenia tripled in size,and shrooms the size of your fist?

 

is say 600 calcium really bad for a tank?,and should i let it come down slow?

[Toooloud]

Yes bring it down.. Cal and Alk work together..

 

With his Cal that high, test the ph!. Becouse too much of either can cause the other to crahs, cauing PH issue.s

[LiQuiD]

Does your friend keep corals or inverts (SPS, LPS, Clams) that need calcium to be kept up with?

 

Never trust a test kit.

 

Calcium should persipitate out of solution if you add too much to the mix, but definately check the other levels.

 

Which Kent calcium product was he using?

[Physh1]

Any calcium level over 500 will not read accuratly with kits. It could be just 600 or could me much higher. You need to let it come back down and monitor the pH value for a few days. That kinda value can drop your pH if your not watching.

 

You/he really needs to keep the calcium, magnesium, and pH values in check and stable for optimum health and growth.

 

Cameron

[deacon hemp]

Thanks for the input guys,i didn't mean to come off as a complete NOOB i know cal/alk work together i just wanted to know if it's really that terrible to have it at 550 for a bit?everything look wonderfull thats why i wondered.All of my tanks are usually perfect levels and i never seen cal at 550 before?i didn't know,it may have been toxic at that level or something?

 

Also should i do a few w/c's in the next week or just do it normal maitenence w/c's to let it come back to normal?

 

Liquid no...he has no sps,clams,and only a couple of small lps so i guess he shouldn't even really be dosing at all!!!3 weeks back i check his params and he had 330 cal so i told him to bump it up,but the dood went crazy!!

[CalciumOverdose]

HMMMmMMmmM...

yes you can..

[myelin]

Just some food for thought.

 

I've been dosing a small about of Kent Turbo Calcium and have been stable at 300 for a week now. I add about 1/3 tsp. to avoid overdosing.

 

My 2 corals (small bubble coral and torch) seem to be doing great with the Ca level around 300. I have been upping the dose of Ca little by little each day and have gotten positive results.

 

I have also adding phytoplankton every other day.

 

I assume two things are happening here:

 

1. I am stabilizing the Ca level right at or above 300 with the amount of Ca I am adding to the water. The corals are using the Ca that I am adding, thus leaving me at the 300 mark.

 

2. My test kit is FUBAR and I am only kidding myself.

 

The test kit uses Ca titration.

 

What this has to do with this thread is beyond me. I wouldn't boost your Ca level just to make your corals grow like crazy. I wouldn't think that would be a safe thing to do since you aren't just changing the Ca level. Good luck man.

[foo]

I managed to raise calcium levels too much in my 50G by adding too much kalk with the top off water. I was being lazy and not testing as much as I should have been. I was testing alkalinity but not calcium. The elevated calcium levels actually caused the sps coral to stop growing and to start to die off.

I had to do some water changes to remove the extra calcium from the system.

[deacon hemp]

Koolaid i didn't put the cal level there on purpose to make the corals grow like crazy it was my dumbass friends accident!!!

 

Foo thats the answer i was looking for,btw how high was your cal for your sps to be dying off?and did u do a few emergency w/c's all at once?

[myelin]

I hear ya