Ca Dilemma...At my wit's end...

[ofalegend]

Ok, folks, here's the deal. I cannot for the life of me get my Ca above 300 in my tank. My parameters are as follows:
Ammonia=0
Nitrite=0
Nitrate=10
PH=8.2
dKH=9-12
Temp=79
Specific Gravity=1.024
There are no corals which could be using the Ca. Magnesium deficiency was the first recommendation, but after dosing Magnesium for 5 days and double dosing Kent Tech CB calcium/dKH supplement, it still will not go above 300. I also use Kent Essential Elements weekly. I am testing the Ca with the Red Sea test kit. ANYONE have any ideas? Think it could be the test kit? It doesn't expire until 2004.
Thanks,
M

 

[ofalegend]

No one has any ideas/suggestions/comments?

 

[shnookums]

we use calcium chloride to get our calcium up. ask falcon63 for the dosage. I know we now use 1TBSP per 100 gallons per week to maintain it at 450. but not sure how much we used to get it to 450

 

[broomer5]

Okay I'll try ...
You say your alkalinity is between 9 - 12 dKH.
Normally a good balance I've found is by maintaining my alkalinity around 11-12 dKH and my pH around 8.2
This seems to let me keep my calcium around 380-400 ppm.
If I lower my alkalinity down to around 8 dKH either with water changes or by not adding any alkalinity buffers over an extended period of time, and continue to add calcium supplements, my calcium has increased up to around 425-450 ppm, which I feel is too high for my tanks.
So ....
See where your alkalinity is today. If it up higher than 12-14 dKH, you may find it very hard to get your calcium up no matter what you add to the tank.
High alkalinity normally means lower calcium levels.
High calcium normally means lower alkalinity levels.
Finding the balance is what can get tricky.
Maintaining this balance can even get trickier, depending on some other factors and what you have in your tank.
This is pretty normal for my tanks using Salifert alkalinity and calcium test kits, and suplementing with either SeaChem or Kent products.

 

[ofalegend]

Thanks for responding. My alkalinity has been as low as 7-8 when I've held off on the buffer to see if it would help, but despite my best efforts my Ca will not go above 300. I'm seriously beginning ot think I need to at least try a new test kit. I've doubled the dose of Magnesium and tripled the dose of Ca for 5 days now and no results, it should have at LEAST went up by 50PPM by now wouldn't you think? I'm seriously getting ready to make this tank FOWLR even though I want a reef tank just because I cannot figure out what could possibly be wrong. I have spent $50 or more on additives and different buffers just to try and improve the Ca.

 

[broomer5]

OfALegend
Here's my suggestion. Take it for what it's worth.
I would cease all additives to your tank now.
I would ditch the Red Sea kits.
Get yourself a Salifert Alkalinity test kit, and a Salifert Calcium test kit.
Get some new measurments using these kits.
Let us know what you find out.
Don't toss in the towel yet.
I agree with you that you should see some increase in your calcium levels by now, but that's assuming your kits are giving you decent results.
But I would cease triple and double dosing any supplements.
Lastly;
What brand of saltmix are you using?
What type of freshwater are you using?
How often do you perform water changes on this tank?

 

[frankl15207]

I use either the Salifert or Red Sea Kit for calcium. Outside of the fact that the Red Sea uses a multiple of 50, it and the Salifert are never more than 20 apart on the reading.
Just to add a little to Broomer's advice, Seachem, and I assume Kent, make products that both raise calcium and maintain calcium. Once you figure out where you are with your calcium and alk, you may want to look into those products.

 

[ofalegend]

Frank: The Kent Tech CB is supposed to raise and maintain calcium levels.
Broomer:
By double or triple dosing I mean for the biggest part I am following the dosing directions on the bottle for increasing Magnesium/Calcium instead of maintaining it, and adding maybe an extra capful for good measure. I will return to the recommended dosage. But you are saying to stop using the Essential Elements, Magnesium and Tech CB altogther? I can't afford to pour it in for no reason anyway and risk harming more than doing good.
I use Instant Ocean salt, Reverse Osmosis/Tap water. I change 20% with tap water monthly and use RO for weekly topoffs of about 3 gallons.

 

[broomer5]

Sorry for the confusion OfALegend
No I was just suggesting that you cease adding calcium or alkalinity products to try to increase or adjust these levels UNTIL you are sure your test kits are giving you good numbers ... that's all.
I agree - it seems like a waste of good money to continue to dump in expensive additives - unless you know your test results are valid.

 

[shnookums]

We had a bit of a different problem. calcium low, ph low and alkalnity hi (16). Our LFS told us to use calcium chloride until the level got to 400-425. Then go to 1 TBSP calcium per 100 gallons per week with an alkalinity additive to get it to level off at 7-9. our levels are 450 calcium and 11 on the alkalinity. We tried the kents dkh and went thru 2 bottles of that before we tried this. If you are using your own tap/city water. test that too. That way, when adding water. you can get that to the correct levels before adding. if not you only dilute what you may have established.