Carbon and calcium

[nemo22]

i had the same problem, i found out it was instant ocean. so i changed to crystalsea marine mix. with instant ocean my calcium were 360-380 even with double doses of calcium additions. my alk was always high, but my ph was 8.2-8.4. since my calcium stayes above 400 with single calium doses and alk has settled down. good luck

 

[mrdc]

I'm not going to say it's my salt but I still plan to change to another brand when my current supply runs dry. I changed the water and doubled the turbo today. I will continue to do weekly water changes to finish the salt up quicker. Thanks all.

 

[mrdc]

Hey ReefNut or whoever else might want to answer, is is possible for the rocks to be sucking up the calcium faster than I am supplementing. My purple corraline is really spreading since I have been supplementing with calcium but I just cannot keep the level up. I did a 15g water change last weekend and I am now using reef advantage and reef builder. My alkalininty is 11.2 dkH, ph - 8.26, magnesium 1190 but the calcium has fallen from 290 to 250. I am really getting frustrated. I'm adding the reef advantage twice a day which is supposed to raise the calcium 25 ppm. Maybe I need to add more or setup a dripping system.

 

[reefnut]

Possible but both alkalinity and calcium is needed to deposit calcium carbonate (which is what coralline uses to grow) so if it was the coralline using up the calcium, the alkalinity would also drop.

 

[bawood]

I read all the replies and I'll throw out the old stand-by. Is your test kit good? It's odd it's dropping that quickly but I'd want to be sure you're getting and accurate reading.

 

[reefnut]

Originally Posted by BAWood
I read all the replies and I'll throw out the old stand-by. Is your test kit good? It's odd it's dropping that quickly but I'd want to be sure you're getting and accurate reading.
That's one of the first things that should have been addressed!! Good call

 

[mrdc]

I'm using a Salifert test for the calcium and seachem and fastest for the alklinity. After the low reading last night, I pulled the Hagen test back out and got the same reading. I'm taking a sample for testing to the fish store tomorrow....maybe even tonight! I think they use aquarium pharm test kits.
Oh and the salifert and seachem tests are brand new.

 

[mrdc]

Hey Reefnut, here's the update:
I tested my calcium this morning using the salifert and hagen tests. The salifert read 200 and the hagen tested 400. I did it multiple times. I took a sample and went to two LFS stores and it read 460 with an Aqua Pharm test and 500 at the other store using a Hagen test. I needed another Hagen kit so I bought one. Came home and tested the same batch of water with the new Hagen test and salifert test. Got 500 with the Hagen and 200 with the salifert. I then took a new sample and tested again with the Hagen and it also read 500. My conclusion is that there is something wrong with the salifert test and I think my calcium is ok..actually a little high.

 

[zman1]

The Salifert Kits have a yellow sticker on the top with a date MM-YYYY. What does your read? Sounds like your have a bad kit. I like the Sailfert KH and CA test. Sounds like you have confirmed an issue with the one you have. Check the date, it's a use by date.
Are you doing the high resolution test or low?

 

[mrdc]

Hehehe..08/2010! I'm doing the high resolution. I have a lot of test kits close together and I wonder if I accidently mixed something that shouldn't have been mixed.

 

[zman1]

Originally Posted by mrdc
I have a lot of test kits close together and I wonder if I accidently mixed something that shouldn't have been mixed.

LOL... I have drawn the Reagent up before from the wrong kit a couple times. Those look the same except for label -- LOL
You know the reason I asked about the resolution. The KH kit is easy 2 or 1 drops from high to low res. The CA kit is a challenge for me anyway. I can't guess a full spoon to 1/2 spoon very well, I just use High res. on CA for that reason.

 

[mrdc]

Same her and I had the same problem at first with the high res. What I ended up doing was get a nice scoop and then slide something falt across the spoon to make it ONE level spoon. That's the one thing I don't like about using powders.

 

[mrdc]

Bump for Reefnut for the update,
Still 500 this morning so the salifert test is gone. Still a good brand, I blame it on user error. I highly suspect I mixed something wrong which probably ruined the kit.

 

[reefnut]

Glad you figured out what was going on!! Just stop the calcium for a few days and it will drop... keep it around 440ppm with a alk of 9-10dkh and you'll be good to go!!

 

[mrdc]

Me too. I knew something had to be wrong since the purple algae has really been spreading lately so I figured the calcium had to be up. The alk is 9.8 dkh with an calcium of 500. How often should you test them? I'm tired of testing everyrday

 

[reefnut]

Weekly for a while...