Ca levels

kolosy · 06/30/2008, 08:50 AM

riddle me this. bought my first coral two days ago (a few threads on that debacle out there), but the LFS told me to start dosing Ca. i measured my alk and my Ca, and found that the alk was good at 9dKH / 3.2meq/L, and that my Ca was waay low at 260. Last night i added 3ml of the Kents Ca stuff. this morning, i measured my Ca again, and it was at *drum roll please* - waay low at 260. WTH? bottle reads to add 1-5mL/50G. is this a magnesium problem? am i just not adding enough? did it all get eaten during the course of 8 hours?

scrmbld33 · 06/30/2008, 08:58 AM

id try testing the test kit on some fresh salt water to rule it out being bad, i had one that read the low all the time and it was the test kit.
what was the alk tested at in the morning? i find it unlikley that one coral to be using it up over night. or you may have not dosed enough.

kolosy · 06/30/2008, 11:18 AM

didn't test alk in the am, i'll run it tonight...

is fresh salt water supposed to be at the 400 mark for Ca?

D to the P · 06/30/2008, 11:49 AM

It would depend on the brand of salt, and what type of water you are using. Sometimes on the side of the salt bucket it will say what the salt content should be. If you mix up the salt water and they don't match up pretty close, than I would think it was your test kit that was wrong. You could also ask the LFS to check it for you and see if their numbers match yours. It is unlikely that the coral would have soaked up all the calcium that was added overnight. The fact that your alk is fine is weird, but it still could be a magnesium problem.

Check out the salt contents on this thread:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1287118

But I'd also check out some of the links in this thread, even if the test kit was the problem it is still a wealth of information. If the test kit wasn't the problem, most of the articles should give you a general idea of what the problem might be, and how to fix it. There are also a lot of online calculators for figuring out exactly how much calcium chloride (liquid calcium and the like) to add.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=102605

I'm not giving up on your problem, but I got to go to work, and right now I think RC's traffic is pretty low. This way you'll be able to gain insight into your problem, and maybe even solve it yourself (although i would ask before devising a plan).

06/30/2008, 08:50 AM	#1
kolosy Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: chicago Posts: 655	Ca levels riddle me this. bought my first coral two days ago (a few threads on that debacle out there), but the LFS told me to start dosing Ca. i measured my alk and my Ca, and found that the alk was good at 9dKH / 3.2meq/L, and that my Ca was waay low at 260. Last night i added 3ml of the Kents Ca stuff. this morning, i measured my Ca again, and it was at drum roll please - waay low at 260. WTH? bottle reads to add 1-5mL/50G. is this a magnesium problem? am i just not adding enough? did it all get eaten during the course of 8 hours? __________________ not yet. maybe someday. Current Tank Info: 90L RR mixed reef, panworld 150ps external pump, t5/mh/led, 20g under-tank sump, 27g above tank sump, 27g fuge with 4" dsb, macro and lr rubble.

06/30/2008, 08:58 AM	#2
scrmbld33 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: south jersey 08050 Posts: 2,394	id try testing the test kit on some fresh salt water to rule it out being bad, i had one that read the low all the time and it was the test kit. what was the alk tested at in the morning? i find it unlikley that one coral to be using it up over night. or you may have not dosed enough. __________________ a left over shrimp shedding is not "a sicilian message meaning luca brasi sleeps with the fishes" fish are friends, not food Current Tank Info: 90gal salt, 2 250mh 14k hamiltons 2 110 actinic, 127lbs LR,50lbs tonga 70lbs indonesia 7lbs tonga branch asm g3

06/30/2008, 11:18 AM	#3
kolosy Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: chicago Posts: 655	didn't test alk in the am, i'll run it tonight... is fresh salt water supposed to be at the 400 mark for Ca? __________________ not yet. maybe someday. Current Tank Info: 90L RR mixed reef, panworld 150ps external pump, t5/mh/led, 20g under-tank sump, 27g above tank sump, 27g fuge with 4" dsb, macro and lr rubble.

06/30/2008, 11:49 AM	#4
D to the P Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Amishville, USA Posts: 2,047	It would depend on the brand of salt, and what type of water you are using. Sometimes on the side of the salt bucket it will say what the salt content should be. If you mix up the salt water and they don't match up pretty close, than I would think it was your test kit that was wrong. You could also ask the LFS to check it for you and see if their numbers match yours. It is unlikely that the coral would have soaked up all the calcium that was added overnight. The fact that your alk is fine is weird, but it still could be a magnesium problem. Check out the salt contents on this thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1287118 But I'd also check out some of the links in this thread, even if the test kit was the problem it is still a wealth of information. If the test kit wasn't the problem, most of the articles should give you a general idea of what the problem might be, and how to fix it. There are also a lot of online calculators for figuring out exactly how much calcium chloride (liquid calcium and the like) to add. http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=102605 I'm not giving up on your problem, but I got to go to work, and right now I think RC's traffic is pretty low. This way you'll be able to gain insight into your problem, and maybe even solve it yourself (although i would ask before devising a plan). __________________ Nature V.S. Nurture: Nature Always Wins. Current Tank Info: 12 gallon Aquapod reef with LED's, multiple nano's at work.