High Calcium and High Alkaline

[reefnewbee]

I've had my current 40gal set up for about 12yrs. Recently decided to work towards a reef tank. First time test on Calcium and Alkalines are both high, like off the scale high. Been doing 15gal water changes every two weeks now using Red Sea Coral Pro, but not much change in these two. Everything else looks great. Nitrates are about 5ppm. What next?

 

[king_neptune]

are you dosing?
My dad has trouble with his Nano. THe Calcium and alkalinity is off the chart too. But hes been dosing without testing.
To fix his problem we are going to be doing water changes every other day till it gets diluted. Also he will stop dosing.

 

[reefnewbee]

I used to ad "Proper PH" occassionally, but the ph was never really out of whack and that was before I'd done the research and found that it varies during the day. I also added Kent Purple Tech, but then only a couple times. Been doing 15 gallon water changes every two weeks, but don't seem to be diluting as fast as I'd hoped. Lost all but one fish in the process. Used to have a problem with nitrates in the 30 - 40 range. The fish didn't seem to mind, but wanted to try corals. Nitrates are now the lowest I've had in quite a while. Just worried about both high calcium and alkaline. Plan on water changes every week now but I've got a few corals to try. A couple mushroom and a yellow sun corals.

 

[btldreef]

I have to throw this out there because I just went through this myself. I was banging my head against a wall trying to figure out what was causing my calcium and alk to be so crazy.
Anyways, I was using a swing arm hydrometer that had been tested against the LFS refractometer and always came up correct (usually tested it every 3-4 months). As long as it was reading correctly, I wasn't going to spend the money for the refractometer. So, since the last time I tested it, it went crazy. It was reading 1.023 while in reality I found out that it was actually 1.030! Since the salinity was so much higher, the alk and calcium also shot up high (along with magnesium). I was shocked when I finally bought a refractometer and saw that the swing arm had finally died on me in that 3 month span, even had the LFS confirm. So, lowered my salt and fixed the alk & calcium issue.

 

[bmkj02]

Check out this article I found the other day. Seems like good ready and what to do if its high or low.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

 

[reefnewbee]

Good point on the swing arm hydrometer. I've had the same one for years. Will look into an alternate to have a look.

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by reefnewbee
http:///forum/post/3221823
Good point on the swing arm hydrometer. I've had the same one for years. Will look into an alternate to have a look.
It may or may not be the issue, but if it is, it will save you the trouble I went through. People told me ti dose this and dose that, I was going crazy.

 

[dutch06]

Originally Posted by reefnewbee
http:///forum/post/3221330
Been doing 15gal water changes every two weeks now using Red Sea Coral Pro, but not much change in these two.
I just posted in another thread about testing your salt mix. Although, I didn't say which one in the other thread, it was Red Sea Coral Pro. I was testing at 460 ppm (Calc), 110 ppm (Alk). I will be switching salt brands on my next purchase.

 

[btldreef]

Since you're using a salt that has an alkaline buffer in it, you may want to consider using a salt that does not have a buffer in it such as Coralife. Some salts add a buffer to keep the alkalinity up along with calcium, Coralife has calcium but no alkaline buffer so that will bring your dKH down. High calcium isn't the end of the world, but high alkalinity can have a very negative effect, especially on corals. The magnesium also needs to be in line with the dKH and Ca.
This is of course if the salinity isn't your issue like it was for me.

 

[reefnewbee]

I had been instant ocean ever since I set up a tank over 20yrs ago. Was just only recently suggested I switch to the red sea product from a different establishment I found in N.O. Bought a 50lb bucket because no one in my area sells it. Corallife is also not available here. I had been dealing with the same guy for years and was a loyal customer. I know no different. One trip to the new shop and I was amazed at the quality and made me realize just how much I was doing wrong for all these years. My drastic water changes have killed off most of my inhabitants. I only have a damsel, a shrimp, a few snails and conch, a few mushroom corals, and a yellow sun coral. Guess it can't hurt to change the water all the way down to the live sand at this point. Any input on that.