Calcium questions????

[smokinreefer420]

Okay fellas, don't make fun of me, but two days ago I bought my first coral (torch) and levels were fine except for my assumtion that my calcium was low, so I did what any level-headed human being would do and went out and bought some calcium additive (should've bought a test kit too, but didn't). It states on the back of the bottle to add 1 capful per 80L (20gal). I have a 55gal, so I put two capfuls in. I thought that should be enough, because there is probably calcium from the sand, salt etc..... I then added my coral to the tank. The next day the tank was somewhat cloudy, so I did a water change and I added another capful of calcium additive thinking that I should replace the calcium with what was removed plus more. Note: Just to let everyone know that I had no idea what a snowstorm was untill today. Anyway, the tank was still cloudy. I gave up on it and went to sleep. The next day it was clear, awesome. I went and got my water tested at my LFS for Ca and what the hell, everything else. They told me that my Ca was above 1000. "Holy crap", I thought, that is more than double the recommended amount to have in a tank". Than someone suggested this is not possible because after a tank reaches 600 of Ca than it will just get a snowstorm and go down to 600 untill it discipates. Well, my questions are:

Was this a snowstorm?

Will my new coral die?

Do you think my Alk is effected by this major spike, (LFS does not test this)? I would buy it, but I'm broke.

How do I remove this crazy amount of Ca from my tank?

Is my tank doomed?

Ihanks guys, hope to hear from you soon.

Justin

[smokinreefer420]

I also added some Bip-Spira to hopefully remove the little bit of ammonia I had in my tank. So I would like to wait a couple days for the bacteria to settle before I do any big water change, if a water change is suggested. Would this be okay, if this is suggested?

[Boxer_Crab]

Water changes are needed to bring the calcium levels back down to a normal level between 450-500 ppm

GL with your new torch coral

[Boxer_Crab]

Alk may drop start testing for this on your own

[Billybeau1]

It is certainly possible to have that high calcium, escpecially if your alk is high.

What brand salt are you using ?

Lesson #1. Never add anything to your tank without first testing for it. But you know that now dont you. :)

[seattlerob]

Hi Justin: not sure which LFS you went to....I live in the Seattle area also. Saltwater City in Bellevue and Blue Sierra in Issaquah will both test your water params for free (at least last time I had it done it was free). With a Ca reading of over 1000, I would get a 2nd opinion, just to validate that....

Heed Billybeau's advice....never add anything without testing for it first.

Also, when you test params & find something off, it's always good practice to not adjust too much too quick. Changing any parameter (pH, Ca, Alk, etc) too fast will cause undo stress to your tank's inhabitants.

Good luck!

rob

[smokinreefer420]

"Hi Justin: not sure which LFS you went to....I live in the Seattle area also. Saltwater City in Bellevue and Blue Sierra in Issaquah will both test your water params for free (at least last time I had it done it was free). With a Ca reading of over 1000, I would get a 2nd opinion, just to validate that...."

Rob, I went to a place in Renton, right next to where my girlfriend works, but I agree a second opinion will help. Saltwater city and Blue Sierra are probebly the best in this area, but I never have a spare cup of aquarium water when I visit them, but now that you mention it, I probably will bring some over there to test next time I visit them. Thanks

"What brand salt are you using ?"

I started out with the stuff in the blue Jugs (can't remember the name, but lately I've been using Instant Ocean. It must be loaded with calcium. Let me know what you think of this stuff.

Thanks everyone for responding.

[seattlerob]

Justin: in Renton, it was probably Fish Gallery & Pets I think....probably not the best since they do pets & fresh water fish mainly.

The stuff in the blue jugs was probably Oceanic. That is known to be high in Ca (550+ if I remember right). IO actually usually runs on the low side for Ca (around 360 I believe). I used to use Oceanic, but use IO now. I actually boost my IO with some Ca additives before using. You should be ok for a while just using IO w/o any additives. If you don't already have, I would suggest the following as a good start:

Ca test kit
Alk test kit
pH test kit
Refractometer (but if not a refractometer at least a swing arm or hydrometer) to measure sg.
thermometer

Long term, the temp, salinity, Ca and Alk are all things you want to try and keep as stable as possible. In order to do that, you need to have the above. (magnesium is another one to test for, but in general mg doesn't deplete as fast as Ca or Alk...I believe IO runs on the low side for mg as well).

Short term (assuming you just started your tank recently), you really should check for Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate, using test kits of course :) Ideally, you would not start stocking livestock until your tank has cycled and those numbers are at 0.

The test kits will set you back initially, but are well worth it. Salifert is a brand that is highly recommended among reefers. There are also many other brands as well.

I rarely test for Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate anymore, but I did frequently when I first started my tank. I still test the others on a regular, frequent basis.

If you go into either Blue Sierra or SWC, just let them know you're thinking about getting some corals, but want to make sure your water is ok first. Have them check everything listed above. They should be happy to do it.

Good luck,

rob

[Billybeau1]

smokin, rob is right on. IO is low in calcium and Oceanic is extremely high. How long ago did you switch ?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

OK, let's back up a second.

A few capfuls of a liquid calcium product would make hardly any rise in calcium, and is not the cause of high calcium here.

Oceanic is high, but not nearly that high.

So I am worried that you have a testing or interpretation error. I would not assume, or even think it likely that calcium is that high.

What kit did they use? Some read in ppm calcium carbonate equivalents, and 1000 ppm calcium carbonate equivalents = 400 ppm calcium ion, so it may not even be high.