High calcium killing my corals?

[doodle1800]

I thought I was done getting 700-800 levels with my new Oceanic mix, because I bought another mix, Instant Ocean. I'm getting the same readings. So I let my LPS do a reading. Same results. High calcium levels may be toxic to most soft corals. Thats how we kill unwanted aptasia and other unwanted anenomes, with very high doses of calcium. I'm very concerned about this. Normal levels are supposed to be in the 450 range. Without normal reduction of calcium these levels would seem to me to slowly kill my soft corals. Has anyone else seen these levels in their newly mixed salt? And - if so, has anyone had bad luck with their soft corals over time?
I'd like people on this board to mix up a new batch, measure the calcium level and report it to this thread.
thanks..

 

[doodle1800]

Maybe high alkalinity is making my calcium reading high? Just a thought. I'll measure it.

 

[dogstar]

What cal test kit are you useing? Are you counting each drop as 100 ppm or 50. Mine is each drops = 50 ppm.

 

[fishieness]

well the problem would be, if you have calcium off the chart, your alk will be too. and your pH will fluctuate often, causeing your corals to not do too well.
i just bought a 50 gallon thingie of oceanic :scared: I have a few shrooms and zoos. and i mean a few! as in very little. and also one frogspawn as of yesterday, so i have very little to use up that calcium!
my calcium is at 600 as of yesterday, but has always been high. after i use the oceanic more ill do another test.

 

[doodle1800]

Here's my concern. If the companies that sell mixes are setting the calcium levels in the 600-800 range, and you don't have corals that reduce calcium, then wouldn't it harm the soft corals over time? These high levels are making coraline go nuts, but actually I would think very harmful.
I'm very curious as to what readings people get with their fresh batch of saltwater and what brand they are using.
I know the Shedd uses Instant Ocean.
So how do we reduce the calcium levels?

 

[hkgar]

Are you testing your saltwater mix before adding it to your tank. See what the levels are before doing your water change. It seems doubtful your mix would be that high.

 

[doodle1800]

Originally Posted by hkgar
Are you testing your saltwater mix before adding it to your tank. See what the levels are before doing your water change. It seems doubtful your mix would be that high.

I'm measuring the mix itself. I bought a 5 gal mix, dissolved it in RO water, and took a reading the next day. I didn't do a water change. I did this as an experiment. I asked my brother to measure his -different brand - and he got very high readings. The LFS got the same readings so I know its not my test kit.
This is exactly what I'm talking about. I'd like others to mix up a batch and measure the calcium levels and post them here on this thread. I wouldn't be surprised if they are in the 600-800 levels.

 

[birdy]

Oceanic has always been in the 650 range for me, tested with salifert Ca test kits, salinity at 35ppt.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by doodle1800
I'm measuring the mix itself. I bought a 5 gal mix, dissolved it in RO water, and took a reading the next day.
What was the salinity reading?

 

[doodle1800]

Reading of over 700, sorry for not posting that. I say over 700 because the water just started to turn after 35 drops, and I stopped. It was Oeanic again. I'll do a yet another test tonight on Instant Ocean and reverify my readings..

 

[wax32]

I use Tropic Marin. Tested just now, Ca: 480 ppm

 

[stonynut]

i used to say oceanic was fine... .used it for a long time with its elevated levels... but nowadays.. its just getting ridiculous
back to IO i go

 

[dragonboy]

A lot of people been having that problem with oceanic but if you don't have that many hardcoral you should use IO salt instead.

 

[the reef]

sounds like you could be getting a high calcium hardness brekthrew in you ro unit could test the tap watter for calcium and lime deposits. Maybe the city you live in is high in minerals. One way to tell is if you get a green shower head often is one way to tell that your water has to hard minerals in it. If this is the case I would try to use a softner along with the ro unit
along with bang guys question what is the salinity if it is over 1.025 then maybe this is why for high readings

 

[bolt696]

Hello,
I have always had high calc in my tank. Over 650 sometimes over 700. I use Coralife salt. anyone have problems with this brand?

 

[doodle1800]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
What was the salinity reading?
geez Bang - didn't read your post, assumed you meant calcium reading...
I keep it at around 1.024

 

[dogstar]

I used to use Oceanic and never had problems. Cal. always can out around 500 to 550 ppm. I switched because I dont have a lot of stonies to use it up so readings stayed there or slowly climbed. Because of this I now use Tropic Marin ( regular, not the Pro formular. ) Because it has less Cal. I mixed a 5g this morning running small PH and just tested after 6 hrs..... as allways,
5g. Bucket
RO/DI
Temp. 82 F.
S. G. 1.025
Alk. 11 dkH
Cal. 400 ppm
Been useing it about 4 months and am on my second 200gl, mix bucket and the readings from this bucket is the same as the one I got 4 mths. ago. With each 50g. waterchange I do now my cal. in my main tank is slowly droping and thats what I want so I can just dose with B-I when it starts to get too low. This stuff totaly disolves as soon as it hits the water and clear after 10 minutes.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by doodle1800
geez Bang - didn't read your post, assumed you meant calcium reading...
I keep it at around 1.024
In my humble opinion I wouldn't use a salt that mixes up at over 500ppm of calcium at normal salinity. That's just asking for trouble.

 

[nicodakat]

I finally bought a calcium test kit and my water tested around 600 for calcium. I mainly have soft corals so I need to bring this level down. What is the best way to do this??

 

[rickd]

Wont it precipitate if it’s that high? I read this:If calcium levels get too high (over 500ppm), there is a tendency for alkalinity to drop. This affects the buffering capacity of aquarium water and without adequate buffering, pH levels are susceptible to fluctuations. Conversely, if alkalinity gets too high, calcium levels tend to drop as calcium precipitates out of solution.
Dont know if that helps But...