what to do about high calcium? is it bad?

[nietzsche]

ive been struggling with calcium always being at 500-525ppm, more at 525. this seems to happen when i mix a batch of Reef crystals and do a water change. i recently added some SPS frags,so i dont know how much they will consume, but i can say that i dont ever worry about calcium going low

salinity is at 35, alk is at 8 dKH, magnesium 1300

if i have a high amount of calcium, will this inhibit the corals from using it? do i need to worry about such a high amount of calcium?

before i had done a water change the calcium got to 420ppm which was great, but as soon as i did a water change it went back up to 525

[m2434]

Reef Crystals shouldn't raise your ca that much. I suspect there is something else happeing. Are you sure you are measurig salinity correctly - are you using a calibrated refracometer? The only way I can see it raising it that much is if your salinity is if your salinity is really high.

For example, I belive reef crystals hovers around 450ppm ca at s.g. 1.025. To raise your ca, it would need to be over 525. It depends how much water you are adding, but for example, to get 600ppm, the salinity of your top-off water would need to be approx. 1.033.

The other possibility is a testing error...

[05TurboS2K]

I'm fairly new to the reef deal.... I'm having this same issue. However I'm adding nothing to my tank yet the Calcium rises from Scripts natural sea water at about ~400ppm up to 525 by just sitting in my tank for a few days. I can't seem to stay below 500ppm.
I figured KH must be wayy off. It's 11.8 So i'm not way out of range. Phospate 0 and Nitrates are high currently 50ppm! usually though I have the same issue even with nitrates at <5ppm. I had a small clam die recently and I think it bumped the nitrates sky high, I did 25% water change on the spot.. I'll do 10% daily from here till the nitrates are better. Still I'd expect that's all unrelated to my CA issue.

What can I do to help this? IVE NEVER ADDED CALCIUM...EVER. Yet my CA rates just keep climbing until I have to water change again.

I've got to be missing something, it just makes no sense. How can natural sea water with nothing added have the CAlcium rates climb on their own. Is it the rock I have in the tank giving it off?

Also recently my frogspawn unattached itself from its skeleton, while still looking healthy even seperate I tried to glue it.... worked for a day then came loose, then I tried to tie it down which caused it to die on the line where it was tied then killing the rest of it.

I'm not sure if that is linked somehow to my problem... HELP

-Greg

[05TurboS2K]

oh...and I've had my LFS test water and myself...both the same. KH high even up to 12+ and CA always high as well.

[nietzsche]

i have a refractometer and its been at 1.026

i just checked with elos right now and it dropped down to 475ppm since a few days ago. ill be doing a water change again soon since i havent done one in a couple of weeks

[m2434]

The only other thing I can think of is if your pH drops low, some rock and sand could dissolve. The pH would have to drop below 7.8 however and it's not likely with a dKh of 11.8, but possible if your home has very high CO2.

Of course, if the LFS tested for you, they could have the same “bad” test kit as you

[m2434]

Originally posted by nietzsche
i have a refractometer and its been at 1.026

i just checked with elos right now and it dropped down to 475ppm since a few days ago. ill be doing a water change again soon since i havent done one in a couple of weeks

Maybe some kind of testing error could be occurring if the salt isn't completely settled. Saltwater that isn't completely aerated can do strange things to test kits sometimes...
Not sure what else it could be, assuming the salt isn't bad. There is a thread about reef crystals sometimes having low ca, maybe they misplaced it in your bag by mistake?

[reefnetworth]

how long are you letting your mix dissolve before adding it to the tank? what is the temp while mixing? are you mixing in a seperate container? or just adding it to the tank and allowing it to dissolve?
if no, then i agree with m2434 it could very well be a testing error!

[nietzsche]

i let it mix for about 3 days, sometimes i get caught up with other things so it might set in a little longer, but usually 3 days is the most

temperature is usally around the 70s, like 78 degrees

im not sure if maybe i just have a batch with high amounts of calcium... i think thinking back on it now when i first got my elos testing kit, few months ago, Jesse had mentioned to me that people were getting the same thing-- calcium too high. he had sent me a replacement kit but it read the same, following week picked up an API kit and it said the same thing

[Billybeau1]

We got something missing here.

Nietz, do me a favor.

Mix up a fresh 1 gallon batch of RC at 1.026 and let it aerate for a few hrs and test the calcium level.

Let us know what you get.