Calcium over 500.... Alkalinity not low....

[NanoBob]

Good morning reefers,

 

I have what I think is a strange situation in my 13.5 EVO.  My calcium is always over 500 every time I test for the last 2 months.  The alkalinity is right where I want it 8.7-9.0, again every time I test.  I just started testing magnesium and it is 1350.  I do regular 20% water changes every 2 weeks.  My fish and coral (yuma, zoas, frogspawn) are healthy and growing (all be it slowly!).  The rest of the tank parameters are all good and stable.

 

Am I over thinking this?  All of the dangers I have read about with high levels of calcium have to do with low KH, which isn't the case here.  Should I just keep rolling with it?

 

Thanks and cheers,

Bob.

[Slyelement]

what testing kit are you using? 

Cause always over 500 is... allot.
Don't know if it can damage corals.

[seabass]

If you aren't dosing calcium, I wouldn't worry about it.  You're right, the problem usually occurs when overdosing calcium, which can result in precipitation of alkalinity (especially with low magnesium levels).

 

If the calcium levels are higher than advertised by your salt mix, it could be a batch anomaly or caused by settling (creating a concentration of elements during shipping).  If the higher concentration is due to settling, you might be able to roll the bucket back and forth to redistribute the mix.

 

The alkalinity level and stability are actually more important.

[NanoBob]

6 minutes ago, Slyelement said:

what testing kit are you using? 

Cause always over 500 is... allot.
Don't know if it can damage corals.

Red sea Foundation Pro

[mcarroll]

1 hour ago, NanoBob said:

Am I over thinking this?

Yes....but maybe no if this is mysterious to you.   Gotta ask questions to learn!  🙂 

 

1 hour ago, NanoBob said:

All of the dangers I have read about with high levels of calcium have to do with low KH, which isn't the case here.

There are no dangers from high calcium.  There could even be some (very very minor) benefits.

 

What makes you consider this as if it were a "problem" (or maybe just a surprise?) in the first place BTW?   Were your numbers different some time before?

 

What salt mix are you using BTW?

[NanoBob]

17 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Yes....but maybe no if this is mysterious to you.   Gotta ask questions to learn!  🙂 

 

There are no dangers from high calcium.  There could even be some (very very minor) benefits.

 

What makes you consider this as if it were a "problem" (or maybe just a surprise?) in the first place BTW?   Were your numbers different some time before?

 

What salt mix are you using BTW?

I haven't seen any "bad" things related to high calcium, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.  I use Tropic Marin pro reef salt.  As with other parameters there is a range to shoot for.  This value has always been high, around 480.  Over the couple of months is when it moved over the 500 mark and has stayed there regardless of what I do.

 

Cheers,

Bob.

[mcarroll]

1 hour ago, NanoBob said:

I use Tropic Marin pro reef salt.

Consider switching up to regular Tropic Marin.  Pro Reef has oddly low alk levels for no apparent reason – especially if you're striving for 8-9 dKH.

 

1 hour ago, NanoBob said:

Over the couple of months is when it moved over the 500 mark and has stayed there regardless of what I do.

I'd try testing a fresh batch of seawater from your Pro Reef bucket and see if it matches the trend on your tank parameters.

 

But after that I'd stop worrying about it.  🙂