My Calcium levels are off the charts

[ReefRockerLive]

About 3 months ago I decided to start making my own Calcium supplement by using a 10 month old Prestone Driveway Heat container. I followed the directions provided by randy's 2-part mix and made the Ca solution. 2 weeks after having started the dosing of my DIY calcium, I tested my Ca and it read 1500ppm. I already know this is not possible because my tank was not milky and the sand was not getting hard. I cross checked my reading from my Elos kit with a brand new Elos Ca kit and a Salifert Ca kit yet all three ended up reading within 50ppm of each other. I immediately discontinued the DIY calcium and went out and bought some B-Ionic Calcium. Even now, my Calcium reading is above 1000ppm and will range from 1200-1300ppm. My Alkalinity is between 8 and 9 DKH. Corals do not seem to have been affected by these "high" calcium readings.

I am stumped and do not know how to fix this problem. Any one know what to do next?

[the2ofus]

Water change?

[ReefRockerLive]

That's what I was thinking, but was unsure how much would suffice. 30 gallon WC perhaps? The system is approximately 115g

[bertoni]

Water changes are the only way to lower the level. A 30g change would drop the level by maybe 10-15%, depending on the calcium level of the salt mix. Have you tried measuring some freshly-mixed water? That's the highest first-hand calcium report I've heard.

[tmz]

Is that calcium number 1500ppm even possible without precipitation?

[Urchinhead]

25% water changes spread out over several days will lower it.

[bertoni]

I'm not sure that the number is possible, but measuring some freshly-mixed saltwater might help.

Very high organic and phosphate levels can help reduce abiotic precipitation, as one thought.

[scorpiocasper]

We went through a similar problem...

What salt are you using?
Oceanic tends to have higher calcium levels. We started mixing the Oceanic and Instant ocean to get a lower level.
You may want to try a different test kit as well to ensure the numbers are correct.

High numbers won't really hurt corals, but tends to stunt growth from what I understand.

Good luck!

[Mojo Jojo]

Its a load but 50% WC would not hurt the tank. I've done a few 75% WCs in my tanks before when levels wacked out.