calcium level
- Thread starter nss11110
- Start date
kris walker
Active Member
It is quite high, but I don't know of any direct effects of high calcium on corals or fish. So my answer is I don't know.
Just some additoinal questions. What test kit are you using? What is your pH and alkalinity?
kris
Just some additoinal questions. What test kit are you using? What is your pH and alkalinity?
kris
maui
Member
I'm just repeating what the LFS guy said and I'm dabbling w/ it a little myself. He said that he runs his as high as 800 sometimes and that's fine as long as your alk is b/w 12-13 dkh. That way you know that the calcium is being used up. I'm finding now that my nitrates are little high so I'm going to back off a little. Don't know if it's related but don't want to find out. By the way was running my calcium around 520.
jim672
Member
A while back I was dosing with calcium to increase my levels and was having a concurrent red algea problem. An experienced reefer friend suggested the red algea was a result of too much calcium. I slowed the dosage and the red algea went away. I suppose it could be a coincidence..... <img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" />
Jim
Jim
kris walker
Active Member
Ok, I had a long post before, but it didn't go though, and wasn't stored in cache.
Two things:
1. Ca/alk/pH are related to each other in that lowering one affects the other two to a certain degree. The relationship is a bit complicated, and I don't understand it completely (I think I did before, but forgot). Anyway, pH is different from alk. pH is a unitless quantity that says how much H+ (or OH-) is in yoru water. 7.0 means equal amounts of H+ and OH-. ph greater than 7 means lots of OH-. ph less than 7 means lots of H+. Alk is a measure of the "pH buffering" capacity of your water. So when something wants to change your pH (like lights going from on to off), when alk is high (like say alk greater than 7 dKH), the pH will not change significantly. However, if alk is low (like say alk less than 5 dKH), then the pH will change depending on the magnitude of the event that wants to change it.
2. Many people have reported high Ca levels (700-900 ppm). Many others dismiss these levels as being due to innaccurate test kits. I used to have a Ca of 550-650 ppm. Then I got a Salifert test kit, and found it to be 450 ppm. I was using Red Sea before. Also, most people who have these reported high Ca levels also have low pH (7.6-8.0). I had 8.0 with my 550-650 reading, but then again, it was later tested at 450 ppm with Salifert with pH 8.0. Anyway, low pH's seem to go with higher Ca, *especially* if many of these observations are not due to bad test kits.
Hope this helps,
kris
Two things:
1. Ca/alk/pH are related to each other in that lowering one affects the other two to a certain degree. The relationship is a bit complicated, and I don't understand it completely (I think I did before, but forgot). Anyway, pH is different from alk. pH is a unitless quantity that says how much H+ (or OH-) is in yoru water. 7.0 means equal amounts of H+ and OH-. ph greater than 7 means lots of OH-. ph less than 7 means lots of H+. Alk is a measure of the "pH buffering" capacity of your water. So when something wants to change your pH (like lights going from on to off), when alk is high (like say alk greater than 7 dKH), the pH will not change significantly. However, if alk is low (like say alk less than 5 dKH), then the pH will change depending on the magnitude of the event that wants to change it.
2. Many people have reported high Ca levels (700-900 ppm). Many others dismiss these levels as being due to innaccurate test kits. I used to have a Ca of 550-650 ppm. Then I got a Salifert test kit, and found it to be 450 ppm. I was using Red Sea before. Also, most people who have these reported high Ca levels also have low pH (7.6-8.0). I had 8.0 with my 550-650 reading, but then again, it was later tested at 450 ppm with Salifert with pH 8.0. Anyway, low pH's seem to go with higher Ca, *especially* if many of these observations are not due to bad test kits.
Hope this helps,
kris