scubachris
Member
ok well if I do a large scale water change, I will have to drain the water to a point that my live rock will be out of water for a few minutes. Will that harm it? Again wont a change that large cause the tank to cycle?
Calcium Question
- Thread starter scubachris
- Start date
natclanwy
Active Member
Almost all of the bacteria that are formed during the cycle reside on the hard surfaces of your aquarium, substrate and LR. Very little actually resides in the water column so a large change of water will have little effect on the nitrogen cycle. Exposing your live rock to air for a short period will have no effect, the critters that live in the rock and corals are used to being exposed to air for hours in nature when the tide goes out.
scubachris
Member
OK well I'll try and do a 50% change on wednesday. I'll let you know how it goes calcium wise. I should have my alk test by then as well, so hopefully all should be good from here on out.
deejeff442
Active Member
i have over 120lbs of lr and i never add calcium.just weekly water changes .the salt i use has 520 calcium in it.how often do you do a water change.maybe you just need to do a 5 gallon every week once you get the calcium up.have you gotten your water from the same lfs all along?
i have heard some store resell the water from thier tanks.might be bs i dont know.i would get an ro and mix your own.first of all a ro is only $100 and salt is $16 for 25 gallons worth.so it is 33 cents a gallon to make rather than $1 to buy and alot more convienient.
i am thinking you havnt changed the water in a while and the lr ate up the calcium.i never liked trying to balance calcium and buffer.water changes was always easier.
i have heard some store resell the water from thier tanks.might be bs i dont know.i would get an ro and mix your own.first of all a ro is only $100 and salt is $16 for 25 gallons worth.so it is 33 cents a gallon to make rather than $1 to buy and alot more convienient.
i am thinking you havnt changed the water in a while and the lr ate up the calcium.i never liked trying to balance calcium and buffer.water changes was always easier.
scubachris
Member
ok well I did 50-60% change today. Going to let everything settle and will see what everything reads tomarrow. Going to get on a cycle of a 5 gallon change every friday, hopefully that will keep everything in check. Thanks for all the imput and help.
jeanheckle
Member
API is not reliable for calcium, use a salifert test. I really think your test is the problem, I can't believe your calcium is actually that low.
errattiq
Member
+1 Use Salifert! API literally tested my calcium at about 1100ppm... No exageration, I nearly used half of my bottle of reagent trying to get an answer. The next day I replicated my test and then the next day, both stating above 950ppm... got my salifert test the next day and BINGO: 450ppm of calcium, replicated with 3 tests in 3 days. Salifert has been my number 1 test kit. They are a little more pricey but the accuracy with expensive livestock is irreplaceable. HTH
-josh
-josh
stanlalee
Active Member
I find the API calcium test fairly accurate as long as you stop counting drops as soon as it turns from pink . you run into problems when you start trying to match the end color. pink to not pink + 1 drop is the end point. I've never gotten anything crazy and it matches what seachem reef salt says its suppose to mix to. anytime you get results out the norm you should use another test kit to compare it to. I've seen too many complaints of salifert kits (more praises and complaints than any other kits) and inconsistancies between any two kits (even good ones like salifert vs elos) to put the possibility of inaccuracy beyond ANY test kit.