Calcium

lexluethar

Active Member
Is there such a thing as too much calcium in a tank? I've heard for maintaining corals you should shoot for around 400. I bought a flowerpot coral a while back and thought it would be a good idea to start testing. Well the past few tests are off the chart. My kit goes to 450, and you can continue testing by just continuing to add solution to this mix - I haven't done so but at 450 i still had a while to go. I would say (and i will test this tonight) that my calcium is around 500. Is this normal?
My tank is about 9 months old, 29 gallons, 30 lbs of LR, and only one coral (flowerpot). I have two damsels and about 20 assorted zoas.
What do you guys think?
 

perfectdark

Active Member
yes, you have too much calcium. The precip is an event when calcium gets so high that it suddenly and spontaneously crystallizes carbonates and drops them out of solution. The crystals look like snowflakes in your tank and a lot of them! Your alkalinity crashes in the process and animals are severely stressed if not killed. The irony is that you cannot stop the process because the addition of buffers to replace the falling crystals will only serve to feed the reaction (dry powder or water changes). You must let the reaction complete and watch the tank suffer in the process. no knee-jerk reactions and no additives. Let the calcium levels fall for a few days gradually and then do a nice water change. 500ppm is nearing dangerous levels...
 

lexluethar

Active Member
Well hell, that sucks! I haven't even done anything to raise it to that high of a level. No additives, nothing. I guess i could be doing the test kit wrong, but i tested on two separate occations and both times were above 450.
What the hell did I do to raise my calcium this high? My assumption is that it has been this high ever since my tank got established b/c the only addition to the tank was the flowerpot coral and my MH light - both of which wouldn't effect the calcium. I do 10% water changes every week to 10 days.
 

lexluethar

Active Member
Temp 80
AM 0
NA 0
NI 0

PH 7.9
Salinity 35
Calcium 450+

Alk - don't test for this, let me guess i should be
 

perfectdark

Active Member
Originally Posted by LexLuethar
Temp 80
AM 0
NA 0
NI 0

PH 7.9
Salinity 35
Calcium 450+

Alk - don't test for this, let me guess i should be


Yes if your at the 500 range Im guessing your alk is low. Also your pH is low too, 8.2 target IMO. Your salinity is ok lowering it a tad may not be a bad idea. 1.024 or 32 approx. This will also help lower your Ca if it is indeed that high. First thing I would do is try another test kit just to make sure.
 

lexluethar

Active Member
What would be the best mothod of raising my PH-Naturally preferrably? I have a PH agitating the water in hopes that would help - but i don't think it has risen much since doing that.
Okay and since your the only one adding input
Will cyno hurt anything? Or is it more of a nusence?
 

perfectdark

Active Member
Originally Posted by LexLuethar
What would be the best mothod of raising my PH-Naturally preferrably? I have a PH agitating the water in hopes that would help - but i don't think it has risen much since doing that.
Okay and since your the only one adding input
Will cyno hurt anything? Or is it more of a nusence?
Right now getting your calc down to a normal level is where you should focus. Small water changes maybe every 3 days. Periodically test your pH again, morning and evening (according to your light schedule) IMO your pH is a tad low but I dont think its as much of an issue right now. And correcting your calc level is priority.
It depends on what its on... generally its more of a nusence, but if it starts accumulating on say a gorgonian then it can become harmful. Being a bacteria it eats away the fleshy part of the gorg quicker than just build up will. On a whole I would say if it there is sooo much that it impares coraline growth or suffocating polyps by not letting them open then yes I suppose it can be harmful. But in most cases its just a pain.
 

matt b

Active Member
i would use alk buffer that will lower ur cal and raise ph right? and what kind of salt r u using
 

saltn00b

Active Member
your pH is a bit low, you want it around 8.2-8.4 . you also need to know your alk. and magnesium will help as well. Alkalinity, pH, Calcium and Magnesium are very closely related. look into a kent superbuffer dKH to buff alk and a little pH as well.
 

nietzsche

Active Member
ive had calcium at 520ppm and didnt cause alk to crash or caused havoc on livestock. check the calcium levels on fresh batches of calcium to determine how much calcium there is, i still have high calcium at 475ppm but its going down really slowly. you might have to switch a different brand with lower calcium. i keep alk at 9-10dKH.. test for alk. 7.9 is OK, could be a little higher. youll probaby have to dose baked baking soda in order to increase pH and alk.. google "An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part" to read on how to make it
BTW, what test kit is it? can you check it against someone elses?
 

lexluethar

Active Member
Thanks for the input guys. I will retest my cal when i get home, and purchase some more testing equipment. The thing about it is i don't know if water changes will help. I mean hell i change 10% of my water weekly, and from what I understand calcium is somethin that gets added into the water through salt and other mean right? So wouldn't the concentration just become greater? I don't buff anything, and the only thing i've changed is my light and adding the flowerpot. I'm kinda thinking my cal has always been this high...
I did a 15% change after seeing how high the cal was (before i knew it was harmful, my tank was just due) and i saw an increase in cal from say 480 to above 500. And my livestock (all-be-it only two fish) seem fine, so do my zoas and flowerpot.
 

lexluethar

Active Member
Back to the cyno:
Its not growing on anything but the sand - i have an agrogate mixture or something to that accord. I will double check when i get home. It doesn't seem to be harming anything, but it is definately growing. I will suck it up this evening and mix up the sand a bit. If it continues i will cut my light hours from 9 hours to say 7.
 

nietzsche

Active Member
what kind of salt are you using? it might be that the salt you use already is high in calcium and is for tanks that deplete calcium quickly
 

lexluethar

Active Member
Its instant ocean, it has a clownfish on the front - again i can be more specific when i get home. If that is the case then i'll just buy more corals
 

nietzsche

Active Member
maybe reef crystals? i know mine is really high in calcium as well. i added it to my 14 gallon and i checked calcium and it was also around 520ppm but went down over a week. i dont have any calcum consuming corals in it nor do i dose. i checked it using the Elos calcium kit and the API calcium kit
 

lexluethar

Active Member
Okay sorry for the delay, had some work issues :)
The salt I use is Instant Ocean sea salt - it has a clownfish on the front.
The sand I use is Aragonite from Carbsea. It is what my LFS suggested because it raises the PH of the sand. Currently I have an inch, would you suggest adding a bit more to raise my PH?
I'm going to the LFS now and I will get a Alk test kit.
Any suggestions on how to raise my PH or lower my Calcium would be greatly appreciated. THanks! Oh and does the power head aggitating the water raise the PH?
THanks!
 
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