calcium level is way too high!

[Luis]

Hi

I've received my calcium test kit (Aquarium pharmaceuticals) ten days ago. I got more than 620 mg/l I have tested several times with the same result. My alkalinity is 10 dKH and my ph is 8.2. So I stoped dosing kalkwasser and a week ago, now my xenia looks flat and my calcium level still the same.

I have dosing kalkwasser daily for years and everything (xenia included) was great, now that I have test it and stop using kalkwasser then my xenia is looking wierd and my calcareus algae is fading, do I have to start dosing kalkwasser again even though my test kit is getting more than 600 mg/l

I dose magnesium too once a month.

Any clue why is this happening ... thanks

 

[trido]

Personally, I wouldn't trust an AP test as far as I can throw it.
Do you test for mg? Do you have stoney corals that are depleting the Ca. and Mg and Alk? If not, why are you dosing?

A Dkh of 10 and Ph of 8.2 is ideal IMO. Your calcium should be testing closer to 420 it things are balanced.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi

I've received my calcium test kit (Aquarium pharmaceuticals) ten days ago. I got more than 620 mg/l I have tested several times with the same result. My alkalinity is 10 dKH and my ph is 8.2. So I stoped dosing kalkwasser and a week ago, now my xenia looks flat and my calcium level still the same.

I have dosing kalkwasser daily for years and everything (xenia included) was great, now that I have test it and stop using kalkwasser then my xenia is looking wierd and my calcareus algae is fading, do I have to start dosing kalkwasser again even though my test kit is getting more than 600 mg/l

I dose magnesium too once a month.

Any clue why is this happening ... thanks

sounds like you should listen to your xenia and calcareous algae and ignore the test results

 

[Anonymous]

I have to disagree, API test kits are perfectly fine, they might not give you the best accuracy but honestly I'd trust them for being at the very least ball park.

One thing is to make sure wherever you do the test is quite brightly illuminated, preferably with natural sunlight the color change from pink to purple can be a bit tricky (especially if you have very blue tank lights ).

That said, I would definitely get another test kit, preferably different brand, and try another test just to double check to make sure there isn't a bad batch. Also clean out your glass vials with vinegar too, if you've used them a while you could get junk that sticks inside that a simple water wash won't remove, and could give you false results.

If you have a lot of calcium using critters you could be sucking through calcium quite fast, so instead of going cold turkey on your kalk maybe dose half as much instead. I would personally aim for a dkH between 7-10, and calcium in the low 400's. The critters in your tank could be used to the high calcium so if you drop it too fast they could show adverse signs as well even though there's nothing wrong with a number of 420 or what not, but if you drop from 600 to 400 in a couple days they will show stress.

Finally, IIRC (Randy's articles??) calcium changes are much slower to detect than alkalinity changes, not quite sure the why behind this or what the time frame for it all is, but something to keep an eye on. Continue to test every day and see where you're at.

 

[Luis]

Thanks for your replies, I don´t live in USA and take me more than a week to get a new test kit so I will test ocean water (I live two blocks from the sea ) to see what I get with this kit.

Yes I do have a lot of stony corals that´s why I´m dosing kalkwasser.

I´ll post my results.

 

[Anonymous]

If all you're doing is dosing kalkwasser as your calcium/alkalinity supplements with lots of stony corals, I'm surprised your pH isn't through the roof.

 

[Anonymous]

Finally, IIRC (Randy's articles??) calcium changes are much slower to detect than alkalinity changes...

I think you're referring to the rate that each will drop in relation to one another. If so, a 1 meq/l (2.8 dkh) drop in alkalinity should equal a 20 ppm drop in calcium. So if you test on one week and your alk is 4 meq/l with a calc of 440 then you test the next and your alk is 3 meq/l, you can expect your calcium to be 420. If you then test the next week and get 2 meq/l, you would expect calc to be 400. ...etc... Your alk will get out of a suitable range much faster than your calcium will.

Luis - what brand of salt are you using? It's not Oceanic, is it?

 

[benni]

i am curious why you mentioned the xenia in regards to the change in water parameters. I recently added some xenia to my tank and am wondering...

 

[Luis]

Hi. I mention my xenia because xenia reacts very fast to changes in alkalinity and ph. Xenia likes high alkalinity an ph when it is too low it looks wierd and flat. Then when I stop dosing calcium because it looks too high my xenia reacts then I thought my alkalinity or ph got low.... I started dosing kalkwasser and now my xenia looks better.

In short Xenia is a good test kit for ph and alkalinity

 

[Anonymous]

sounds like you should listen to your xenia and calcareous algae and ignore the test results

What BBob said...xenia is always my first indication that something is amiss with a tank. I'd be sceptical of the results of the test.