Jestersix

Calcium too High

dzuckerm

dzuckerm

Supporting Member
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So my calcium and alkalinity were running low (calc was 380, Kh was 8.0). So i mixed up my two part solution from BRS.com and added them to the tank yesterday. I used BRS's calculator to figure out how much to add.
Well I retested this morning and the Calcium was AT LEAST 500 (by salifert). I essentially added the full 1ml syrnge and the color never changed from Red to Blue. The Kh is now 8.0 and pH is 8.3
Do I need to worry? I read online the calcium can sometimes precipitate out if it gets too high. I havent seen anything wrong with the tank and corals / fish look fine. thanks!
-Doug
 
Did you test it again?
Seems odd that it went that high, and did not budge your Kh.

Make sure your magnesium does not get low.
That will help keep away the precipitate snowstorm.
 
I'd be more concerned with keeping alk in check. Alk swings are very problematic for fish and corals. I've lost fish and corals due to low alk and ph swings. Keep alk up!

I second the alk staying up with cal being seemingly high. Typically, you can't keep alk up with high cal. Test again and make sure your readings are accurate. Good luck.
 
How are the corals looking? If I get a test that is way abnormal I take a very close look at the corals and animals in the tank. If everything looks "normal" then I suspect the test kit is wrong first and work from there on to diagnose the issue. If the animals are visibly stressed, it adds weight to the test result.

That said, the fix for almost anything that can go wrong with your parameters is a massive water change.
 
Thanks everyone!
Well i retested again three times (all with salifert). Calcium is actually 460 / Alk: 8.4 dKH / and pH 8.3
So it actually doesn't look all too bad. I think I'd like to get the alk up to about 10 or so, so I'll add some alk via 2-part.

Corals all look fine. And the fish are big old pigs as usual :)

Thanks for your help!
 
Some corals can be far more resilient to water parameter changes than others. It's just like some people being more or less susceptible to catching a cold depending upon prior conditions. I have also noticed with my corals and past tank parameter swings that some corals do not react to "bad" water parameters right away and can take weeks to show signs of stress. Other corals show no adverse affects to the parameter swings.

Stability in ph comes from higher alk. I try to keep my dkh around 10 and if it drops below 8, I'll use patience and "manually" dose back up to 10 over a few days. Cal around 420.
 
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