Calcium levels.

[teamsleep]

I am trying to regulate myself to get into doing water changes on schedule but sometimes it is so hard. I have had a couple problems with algea and so on but they seem to pass in time. I am about to do a water change and the calcium in my tank reads about 440 but the water I am going to add to my tank has a calcium of around 490. My question is I know that regular sea water has a calcium level of around 425 to 430 and I was wondering if there is a certain danger with levels being so high or so low, and how to control it without using supplements?

 

[bang guy]

490ppm is OK as long as the Alkalinity is also high, especially for a water change. For some reason people focus on Calcium when it's actually Alkalinity that is the critical factor for coral growth.
NSW is typically only about 400 - 420 except in the Caribbean.

 

[teamsleep]

I dont have the access to any stores in my area and have to order things online but never have the cash to so I have no way of finding out what my ALK is. Is there any problems that come with low or high ALK and there any signs of having problems with the ALK without having a test for it. Other then that though my calcium levels are nothign to worry about?

 

[bang guy]

No, that level of Calcium is nothing to worry about.
Low Alkalinity will prevent corals from growing, very low Alkalinity will actually cause coral skeletons to dissolve, killing the coral. It will also allow PH to fluctuate a lot more than normal which can be an additional strain on the more delicate organisms.
High Alkalinity will cause Calcium carbonate to precipitate. This will lower Calcium and Magnesium levels as well as reduce the life of pumps and powerheads.

 

[teamsleep]

My Ph seems to be at a constant 8.2 so I dont see any fluctuations there. I might have to order a test for it becuase it seems that I need to know more about my water and test for more then what I have. As for the life of the powerhead what do you mean becuase I had an Aquaclear 50 in it and no matter if I cleaned it or flipped it upside down to get the air out or what I did it was still blowing microbubbles. I am picking up 2 Maxi jet 600's tomorrow for my tank so I hope they work better.
Thanks for the advise.

 

[bang guy]

Do you test your PH at about the same time of day? Usually it fluctuates frome early morning to evening because of photosynthesis. Next time you test try to do three tests, early morning before lights, mid afternoon, and evening just before the lights go off.

 

[teamsleep]

how much should they fluctuate? Usually I test at random times but tomorrow I have off of work so I will do what you say. Tomorrow I am going to do a water change and clean the inside glass and add one or two powerheads depending on how much my mushrooms blow around. Is that going to effect any results I may get?