Calcium Level

[Reefdiver77]

I have never tested my calcium and alkalinity before. I purchased the tests today from Craig. My alkalinity was in the normal range. However, when I added Reagent A and then the powder to the 5cc of tank water, the water turned a magenta color instead of the mauve on the card. It took 2.0 ml of Reagent C to get anything near the blue color and even then the blue was a deeper blue than that on the card. I am using the Calcium Pro test by Red Sea. What do I need to do now? I know to hold off on the Calcium Buffer for a while. I might add that I use tap water with a conditioner.All seems well in the tank. I did have one of my new sps frags get white fuzzy like stuff on it. I did as Craig instructed and turned off the pump and got it from the tank and chunked it. It looked like some sort of a fungus. Did not want it to spread. TIA. Vicki

[Codeman00]

I've never used the Red Sea reagants before..but first off..what were your alkalinity and Calcium levels?? Or do they just tell you good or not good?

[Reefdiver77]

Alkalinity was low, normal or high and it came in as normal.
I calculated the Calcium at 1000 ppm.
What type test do you use?

[Codeman00]

Well...I've only used one kind of test....Salifert. From all the reading I've done, everyone said they are one of the most reliable if not the most reliable. I really have no personal comparisons..maybe some others in the club have there opinions on test kits.

If you have never dosed anything and you have never checked your calcium levels, I dont think there is any possible way your calcium could be that high....and if it is that high..it is way too high I used Oceanic salt right off the bat (notoriously high for salt mixes) and mine started out at 600ppm or so with nothing in the tank to use it up. Other salt mixes should put you around the 450 range give or take. I just can't believe there are test kits out there that don't give you a numerical value for alkalinity....low, medium or high doesn't tell me anything at all.

If you're keeping SPS or LPS corals, you need to know exactly what your levels are (numerically) before you dose...and you want to get them even and use a good 2 part dosing additive...one to keep the alkalinity up and the other to keep the calcium up at the same time.
You want to keep you calcium between 400-450 and your alkalinity between 8-9 dKH (2.8-3.2 meq/L). Although you can push your alkalinity a bit higher if you want.

Try your calcium test again and see what you get and we'll go from there.

By the way..who am I talking to here?

[Reefdiver77]

I am Vicki from the Reef Club. I do dose Calcium Buffer A&B every third day. I have never used anything but Oceanic Salt. I think I saw you the other day at Reef Down Under. I was buying the 2 clams and 5 frags as well as Zoo rocks, blue mushroom, etc. I am keeping SPS corals and have 3 clams as well. I have tested the calcium twice and the level was the same each time. I did buy a new filter for my wet/dry I use as a sump. It says to only change it every month. The brand is Pura Pads. I bought it at Kermits after our last meeting. Could this be a problem? Maybe I need to buy a Salifert test kit. I have the Salifert muli test kit that did not include alkallinity or calcium. Any idea where I could get them locally? TIA

[Codeman00]

Hey Vicki...yes I remember you....that was me at Craig's

No, I don't think that the Pura Pad has anything to do with it and if you already are dosing, then I guess its possible to have your calcium up at 1000ppm..but still, its not likely IMHO. I would think you would be having problems with CaCO3 (limestone) precipitating out (as a solid white crust) on your pump impellers, and other submerged items such as heaters, etc. Having your calcium levels above 450 is doing more harm to your equipment and doesnt give you any advantage with your livestock. You might want to read these articles:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

All and all, you need to find out what your levels are, correct them if they aren't right, and then start to dose and monitor if your dosing is keeping up with your tank demands. You will get better growth keeping the Ca and Alk in the ranges specified.

I would try another test kit if I were you.....I haven't seen Salifert kits locally at all... I could let you borrow mine if you are interested...I would need them back quick though since Im currently setting up my Calcium reactor. Let me know if you're interested.

[just dave]

We have Salifert kits though I don't know how "local" I am. Salifert has a history of supply problems so sometimes they are in stock and sometimes they are not. AT this point in time they are in.

[Below Sea Level]

Yeah I have to agree with Dave on the supply of salifert problems. I carry Salifert at BSL but I do not have any alk. tests at the moment but do have the calcium.

[luckyfish]

I would think codeman00 is correct. at 1000ppm wouldn't almost any addition to the tank cause the Ca precipitate out. Your inhabitants should be able to build little CaCO3 snow men. I would like to hear from those more knowladgable than me (read almost everyone) comment on what is keeping the Ca in solution. in the mean time, I would see if you could borrow sombody's kits and retest and compare Ca and alk.

[Codeman00]

Snowmen...lol. The funny thing is luckyfish isn't kidding!!!

I am going to guess that either the calcium is not really that high or I guess it is possible that some of the other metal ions such as strontium (which is in very short supply in Oceanic) could be replaced by calcium ions..which is a long shot. I'd have to check with Randy on the Chem forum about that. And then, when pH levels and magnesium are taken into account, that can also affect how much Ca can be held into solution at any given time. All are + ions which could take each others place in solution. I might do a little research on whether its actually possible to have 1000 ppm calcium.

Best thing is to check the calcium and alkalinity with another kit...then proceed from there.

[Reefdiver77]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will head to Humboldt tommorow after work and get a Salifert Calcium Kit and check that again. I have no little snowmen being built, that I know of ~(:-)). The only precipitant I see on pumps and heater are salt. Also, when I add the Calcium Buffer, part B, sometimes it goes from being cloudy to immediately precipitating to little pieces before being moved about the tank by the flow. Are all the calcium test kits 3 steps?
Chemistry was not my strong subject in Nursing School! I will let you know what the new test results are. Everything seems to being doing good so far!!

[Codeman00]

The Salifert kit goes like this...put the water in the container, put a scoop full of crystals in, put drops of solution in, and then do a titration.

The normal test method will give you results up to 500ppm...the low resolution method will give you results up to 1000ppm...keep that in mind if you are actually higher than 500ppm.

I'm not trying to beat the point to death, but how did you determine the quantity of buffer to use and how often to add it? Just curious. I've never dosed before, but it seem like the immediate precipitation isn't a good thing... BTW, I too found out quick that this reef aquarium stuff was chem intensive..luckily I took 4 years of it in high school / college (and even liked it a little bit) which makes things easier.

Let me know what happens..

[boofer]

I bought a CA Red sea test kit once (it was cheap), and was getting a reading above 800. Did some research and found you had to shake all reagents violently. It didnt help. The same water with my Seachem kit I was reading 420. Needless to say, I chunked that kit in the trash. I can almost 100% guarantee your getting a wrong reading with that kit.....IME there crap.

[Reefdiver77]

Drumroll Please~~~~~~~~~~ and the results are (Using Salifert)
500!!!!!!!!!! I used the low resolution and came up with 500, so obviously it was the Red Sea Test. I dose Calcium using Kent Marine Tech CB. Parts A&B. I dose according to the directions and add every third day.

At Below Sea Level, I was talking with Dave about the Daisy Polyps in my tank. There is a pic of them in Natural Reef Aquariums by Tullock, page 199. Also called Palm Coral (Dlavularia sp), Soft Coral.

Also, Codeman, you asked about my MH. They are 250 14K.

I have another question. I have a pink lether cabbage. It has always done great. I noticed it looked kind of droopy since I moved it last week. While moving it back to its original location, I noticed this little black spot on it. It was even with the coral and not sticking up. Tonight it was sticking up. I checked it out. It pulled off easily. I crushed it. It was kind of grainy and was green like some kind of excrement. Anyone have any idea what this could be.

Also, I saw one of my red legged hermits munching on one of my sps frags tonight. The part he was munching on is now white. Are hermits destructive to SPS Corals??

TIA

[Codeman00]

I'll try to cover a couple of issues here...

Glad to hear that you Calcium isn't 1000ppm lol. So, now we've determined that its 500ppm. You need to not dose your tank and test ever 1-2 days until your calcium falls down to the 400-450 range. With your setup..esp with a clam, you should be good in about 2 days or so. In the meantime, keep your alkalinity in the "normal" range and once both are in the "normal" range, then start your dosage and check your levels daily or every 2 days to see if your dosing is keeping your tank within those levels. You should start to realize how much your tank needs and get on a schedule that fills those needs. It won't hurt that much to be above in Ca or Alk..but it could if your alk, Ca and other levels are all up at the same time. Hope all that advice makes sense. I found all that tough to keep track of and thats why people have calcium reactors.

Hermit crabs....its tough to trust anything in a reef tank with claws. I've read several accounts of reefers that despise hermits and won't use them as part of their cleanup crew. Like a lot of other creatures..they're reef safe, but that doesn't keep them from picking on stuff they aren't suppose to..esp if they are really hungry. So the answer is yes, they can be destructive to anything in the tank...but generally, you don't have to worry about them.

[leebca]

Calcium test kit compared:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=661882