Calcium Question???

[seannmelly]

I have a calcium tester kit. Its the one where u gotta put in 10 drops of the first bottle and the color you are trying to achieve is dark blue/purple. I have had this tank (125 rr) set up for a week now (had an established 90 and 37 gallon used all the same water and cured rock). I dripped once w/ kent marine kalkawasser (sp) and the calcium was 400 something. tested the calcium today...it took 45 drops of the second bottle...and the color was still not even close to the color it was suppose to be. I was told if it takes less then 20 drops for it to change the right color then cal was high. And since i used 45 drops w/o achieving the color then i was told its really low. by the way the brand is aquarium pharmaseuticals(sp). hope this wasnt too confusing. my tank is not "snowing". im DYING for some corraline algae!!! plan on dripping 3 gallons of kalk water tomarrow and i do have some corals

 

[anothrname]

if you are "dying for coraline", just give it time.. i dont dose with calcium and i got plenty.. my tank is a little over 2 months old (i forget exactly).. and the coraline is starting to grow on my glass... I clean around it so that it will continue to grow there (i dont mind one purple side to my tank)..
but like i said.. i dont dose ANYTHING.. my calcium tests at around 360 - 380 with my salifert test kit.

 

[seannmelly]

Originally Posted by AnothrName
if you are "dying for coraline", just give it time.. i dont dose with calcium and i got plenty.. my tank is a little over 2 months old (i forget exactly).. and the coraline is starting to grow on my glass... I clean around it so that it will continue to grow there (i dont mind one purple side to my tank)..
but like i said.. i dont dose ANYTHING.. my calcium tests at around 360 - 380 with my salifert test kit.
I know i need the patience...i dont necessarily want it so much on the glass but i would love to have my rocks purple w/ coralline algae growth. where i work, the tank isnt even a year old and half the rock in it is reef bones and "dead rock" and it is gorgeous purple. that is what i am aiming for and i know we use kalkwassaer every other day...but i also know thast b/c theres a ton of corals in there. i jus wanna know whats w/ this test kit. since it took 45 drops+ to get it to the "target" color...does it mean cal is low or high??? just a lil confused

 

[dfox]

I have the same Calcium test kit from Aquarium Phamaceuticals. 45 drops of the second bottle means that your calcium is WAY high. :scared: According to the instructions, each drop of the second bottle equals 20 ppm of calcium. 45 drops means your calcium is 900 ppm.
You definitely don't need that high of calcium to get coraline algae growing. My calcium is like 360 or so. After about 1 month, my LR is about 1/2 covered with purples, greens, and little bits of blue-green and reds. The test kit says you should shoot for 400-500 ppm.
I'm not an expert on the whole calcium/alk balance, but it seems like that much calcium would be affecting other parameters. Perhaps someone else can provide more info for you on this. What's your pH and alkalinity?
Hope this hels.

 

[seannmelly]

Originally Posted by dfox
I have the same Calcium test kit from Aquarium Phamaceuticals. 45 drops of the second bottle means that your calcium is WAY high. :scared: According to the instructions, each drop of the second bottle equals 20 ppm of calcium. 45 drops means your calcium is 900 ppm.
You definitely don't need that high of calcium to get coraline algae growing. My calcium is like 360 or so. After about 1 month, my LR is about 1/2 covered with purples, greens, and little bits of blue-green and reds. The test kit says you should shoot for 400-500 ppm.
I'm not an expert on the whole calcium/alk balance, but it seems like that much calcium would be affecting other parameters. Perhaps someone else can provide more info for you on this. What's your pH and alkalinity?
Hope this hels.
ph is normal...although need to order alk test...i was worried about this... guess im not dripping tomarrow. this is what i thought stupid lfs guy i only dripped once in a week...did water change today. thank you dfox...i hope i have luck like u w/ the coralline

any additional info appreciated

 

[dirty-d]

I have the same test kit but before i had it i used to dose seachem calcium everyother day and when i got the test kit it was around 40 drops like yours is.......that was almost 2 years ago and i havent dosed calcium since......Just tested mine today and it was like 22 or 23 drops which is around like 440 i think. What i do is 10 drops of bottle 1 then i do 10 of bottle two then 5 then another 5 then 1 drop each until it turns purple. Color changes from pinkish to purple within 1 drop.

 

[seannmelly]

Originally Posted by Dirty-D
I have the same test kit but before i had it i used to dose seachem calcium everyother day and when i got the test kit it was around 40 drops like yours is.......that was almost 2 years ago and i havent dosed calcium since......Just tested mine today and it was like 22 or 23 drops which is around like 440 i think. What i do is 10 drops of bottle 1 then i do 10 of bottle two then 5 then another 5 then 1 drop each until it turns purple. Color changes from pinkish to purple within 1 drop.
yea when the calcium was "normal" that what happened b/c i brought water in to test at work til i ordered my kit. i mean, ppl w/ high calcium says their tanks snow...and i have not witnessed that in my tank. no more dosing for me. did u lose ne fish or corals when ur calcium was that high b/c i DONT want that to happen!!!

 

[dirty-d]

yah, actually i brought home a huge brittle star fish and acclimated him then dropped him in and he fell on a rock and didnt move........so i took him back not knowing what the problem was at the time and got another one and the same thing........so i brought him back with water and they tested the calc and it was like 900 or something.......that killed the starfishes because they pretty much were in shock when i dropped them in my tank but the fish in my tank were fine because they were in their when the calc was going up.
I think it took around a month with alot of water changes to get it back intack. As for snowing i dont know about that

 

[seannmelly]

Originally Posted by Dirty-D
yah, actually i brought home a huge brittle star fish and acclimated him then dropped him in and he fell on a rock and didnt move........so i took him back not knowing what the problem was at the time and got another one and the same thing........so i brought him back with water and they tested the calc and it was like 900 or something.......that killed the starfishes because they pretty much were in shock when i dropped them in my tank but the fish in my tank were fine because they were in their when the calc was going up.
I think it took around a month with alot of water changes to get it back intack. As for snowing i dont know about that

good to know!!! im going to the wholesaler monday and am planning on getting some stuff. i DEFF dont wanna throw my money away. how much water did you change at a time?? i dont have much time before bringing stuff home monday. i know i prolly shouldnt at this point but...this is one of the only chances i get to get some really cheap fish and corals!!! im thinking close to 50%??

 

[dirty-d]

i would say that corals should probly be fine but i couldnt tell you about the fish....i would deffinately acclimate the slowly if you were to get any.......maybe see how a damsel would do first instead of like an expensive fish........but i think i did like a 10% every 3rd or 4th day but it does take a while to drop, it even if you would do like a 50% change i dont think it will cut you reading in half plus you might harm whatever else that you may have in their. i'd do like maybe one in the morning, sat. night, sun morning, sun night then monday and see where you are at from their

 

[seannmelly]

Originally Posted by Dirty-D
i would say that corals should probly be fine but i couldnt tell you about the fish....i would deffinately acclimate the slowly if you were to get any.......maybe see how a damsel would do first instead of like an expensive fish........but i think i did like a 10% every 3rd or 4th day but it does take a while to drop, it even if you would do like a 50% change i dont think it will cut you reading in half plus you might harm whatever else that you may have in their. i'd do like maybe one in the morning, sat. night, sun morning, sun night then monday and see where you are at from their
i HATE damsels LOL. but, not planning on gettin ne thing too expensive fish wise, it is a wholesaler outrageously low prices on fish. i do plan however to slowly acclimate them like this website (swf.com) explains. it seems to have worked for me in the past. thank you for all your help!! and i will let you know how it goes.

 

[rednekreef]

when you say you are dripping 3 gallons of kalk...tell me the period of time that you are dripping that......3 gallons of kalk water last me 5 days.....i hope your are not dumping 3 gallons of kalk water into your system in one day.

 

[jakebtc]

i have that kit and you have WAY too much calc in there dude give it a break and be patient and u wont nee kalk for years lol slow down and enjoy it your trying to mimic something that takes time in matters of minutes sounds like quick fixes are for

[hr]

 

[sleasia]

Is kalkwasser a better way to add calcium? I have been using a seachem product. mine is in the 450 range....how high is too high? Obviously 900. but when are you creeping into the risky zone...Also it it is too high, can't you filter with carbon and then add trace and Calcium if it drops too low?

 

[jakebtc]

i dont know wich way is BETTER think its preference many people like that ionic b 2 part additive though 400-500 is most peoples target and sometimes mine ends up going up to about 520 maybe a tad more thats resolved on my end by water change as I add calc by liquid additives some people like it above 500 but i try to keep it normal if theyre is such a thing

 

[seannmelly]

Originally Posted by RednekReef
when you say you are dripping 3 gallons of kalk...tell me the period of time that you are dripping that......3 gallons of kalk water last me 5 days.....i hope your are not dumping 3 gallons of kalk water into your system in one day.
no have NOT been dumping kalk water into my tank. i dripped it once and not the whole 3 gallons

 

[supalupa]

If your calcium is at 900 your alk must be way low. I have heard of the snowing thing when the alk is raised with too much calcium in the tank. I think it's because the calcium in the water doesn't become available until the alk is correct. I would go slowly if you need to raise your alk cause it might start snowing. Not real sure about this so someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[rednekreef]

kalk is hard to explain....it really dosent ADD calcium to your tank...it will to an extent . but if you dump a crap load in your tank it will have a devistating affect. Cal. Alk and ph all have an effect on one another. if your cal is high...then your alk is low affecting your ph. if your alk is high then your cal is low and again affecting your ph. the thing with a reef is to keep all levels stable. all the time. the point of dripping kalk is to keep those levels stable all the time...not to add cal to your water. before dripping kalk your levels have to be in check to begin with. kalk has a high ph. so if you run a 24/7 lit fuge or something you can drip it all the time. if not, it is only to be dripped during the day...which i find to be a pain in the tail. i drip mine 24/7. but has taken a long time to get the right amount mixed to what i want.. Patience is a neccesity in this hobby...you will wind up killing everything in your tank if you do not have the patience to let things get established. what you need to do in my opinion, is first do a water change...and do them at a regular rate. i do a 10% water change every saturday at 7 am. learn to mix your water properly first. do your water changes and get your water in check. don't add this or that unless you test for it....in your case....test for the basics....ph alk, cal, trates,phosphates, and amm. when everything is correct...search around and do some studies before you continue to drip kalk.
thats just my opinion. Patience my friend...PATIENCE

 

[seannmelly]

Originally Posted by RednekReef
kalk is hard to explain....it really dosent ADD calcium to your tank...it will to an extent . but if you dump a crap load in your tank it will have a devistating affect. Cal. Alk and ph all have an effect on one another. if your cal is high...then your alk is low affecting your ph. if your alk is high then your cal is low and again affecting your ph. the thing with a reef is to keep all levels stable. all the time. the point of dripping kalk is to keep those levels stable all the time...not to add cal to your water. before dripping kalk your levels have to be in check to begin with. kalk has a high ph. so if you run a 24/7 lit fuge or something you can drip it all the time. if not, it is only to be dripped during the day...which i find to be a pain in the tail. i drip mine 24/7. but has taken a long time to get the right amount mixed to what i want.. Patience is a neccesity in this hobby...you will wind up killing everything in your tank if you do not have the patience to let things get established. what you need to do in my opinion, is first do a water change...and do them at a regular rate. i do a 10% water change every saturday at 7 am. learn to mix your water properly first. do your water changes and get your water in check. don't add this or that unless you test for it....in your case....test for the basics....ph alk, cal, trates,phosphates, and amm. when everything is correct...search around and do some studies before you continue to drip kalk.
thats just my opinion. Patience my friend...PATIENCE
you are right. did a water change last night which amazingly brought it down from being off the charts to around 600. did another water change this morning, tested cal this afternoon and it is 440. around 10% each time. i havent lost ne thing although jawfish is acting weird(not in his usual hole under a rock on the sand). ph is good. dont have an alk test tho, ordering it for wednesday. thanks for the help

 

[seannmelly]

Am. 0
Ite. 0
Ate. 5
Temp. 80
Salinity 1.022
Cal. 520
Alk 4.5
Ph. 8.4