No Calcium

[captinnemo]

Tank
75Gal
80 pds live rock
0.0 Amonioa
No reading Nitrate
0 Nitrite
8.0 PH

Ok, so I can't get a calcium reading with my tank water using a Calk tester. I can get one using tap water. (testing the tester) So I tried adding Kalwasser to the tank water (a sample of tank water) and then testing it. I still get no reading. Also it appears when I add the Kalkwasser that there is a percipitate in the water....What is the issue here? Why the percipitate, why isn't the calcium going into the water?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

There is no chance that you have no calcium in your marine aquarium water, so don't do anything extreme until you get an accurate measurement.

What exactly did you use to test the water? That is, what do you mean by a Calk. tester?

[captinnemo]

I used a Nutrafin Ca test kit. (sorry about the Calk just being lazy with the typing)
The Nutrafin kit gives me no reading when I test the tank water. I checked it out and tested my tap water just to make sure I was using it right and whatnot. Well I get results for the tap water, but still nothing with the tank water. Ok so then I took some tank water and added Kalkwasser to it. When I did it looked like the Kalkwasser didn't really mix well and I got really cloudy water with a white (ish) suspecsion in it. I then tried to test the water with the Ca test kit (by Nutrafin) and again I got no reading. My questing here is, What is going on?

[Eryl Flynn]

Take some water to your LFS and ask them to test for calcium. I have a hard time believing you have 0 calcium in there.

How old is that test kit?

Have you tried adding kalk to ro/di water and testing it? If so what are the results?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

When I did it looked like the Kalkwasser didn't really mix well and I got really cloudy water with a white (ish) suspecsion in it.

That's what it does if you add too much.

I'd suggest getting a different brand of kit. You do have calcium in the tank water as there is no mechanism for removing it all (assuming that you used a reasonable salt mix to begin with).

The kit is has either gone bad, or was never any good. Bad kits are a frequent problem for marine aquarists.

[captinnemo]

ok, so the kit is brand new, I purchased it 2 days ago. And I don't think it's bad because I can get a Ca reading with my tap water. As for bringing it to a LFS to get it tested, that is where all this started. I brought it to the LFS and they could not get a reading for Ca. So they recommended I get a Ca test kit, and told me to test the water at home. They suggested testing the water, and if I got no reading to then add Kalkwasser to the water and test it again. Well I've done that and can get no Ca reading at all in my tank water, even after adding Kalkwasser to the water? any suggestions about what to do, or about what is happening here.
Should I try a diferent brand of Ca?
Could Phosphates figure into this equation at all???

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

No, phosphate is not an issue here.

Try mixing up a batch of fresh salt mix and see what you get for calcium.

[Habib]

When you say no reading what does that mean?

The color changes right after the first drop or do you mean that the color does not change even after many drops?

[captinnemo]

I mean no color change after many many many many and many drops

[Habib]

Originally posted by captinnemo
I mean no color change after many many many many and many drops

Ah, OK, so that is something different from a zero calcium value.

This suggests, if the kit is OK and you are using it correctly that the calcium value is high.

For how many ppm does each drop stand for ?


And how many is many, many, many, many.... :D

TIA

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Nice questoning, Habib! I've got to learn to not take what is said so literally. :)

[captinnemo]

Each drop stands for 20 ppm, When I said many many, I was talking of a reading in excess of 900ppm, However, the issue has finally been solved, I diluted my tank water and was finnaly able to get a reading, I definately have way too much Ca in the tank.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Just be sure that it is reading in ppm of Ca++ and not ppm of CaCO3 equivalents, which some kits do.

1000 ppm CaCO3 equivalents = 400 ppm Ca++ ion.