Too much calcium?
 

Is there such thing as too much calcium in a marine/reef tank?

I bought some Kent Purple Tech to try to boost the corraline growth in my 36 gallon tank. It contains some calcium.

I dosed with Purple Tech for the first time this morning, and, when I went to test my calcium, it was off the charts, literally. I have the API test kit that tells you to continue adding drops until the solution turns blue. The chart in the booklet went up to 26 drops (which was an indicator for 520 ppm). When I got to 26, the solution was still a little purple as opposed to blue, so it looks like my calcium is at 520 ppm or even a bit higher.

I don't have any corals in the tank yet, but is this much calcium bad? Is it livable for corals and other inverts?

Also, should I continue dosing with Purple Tech as the directions indicate?

You will be fine. I will let an expert on chemistry explaine. But you should start to see coralin grow on you glass weekly. I run my sps tank run that high all the time.

If you are planning to keep corals, especially SPS or LPS, then this might be a good read for you.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-0...ture/index.php

if you calcium is really that high, i would not add any more.

The biggest drawback to high calcium is the build-up of deposits on your pump shafts and other equipment. How soon after dosing did you test the water? You should wait at least 4 hours after a water change or adding chemicals to test.

You are not too high. I think most keep it at 420-450 so you are only 70 over. Just make sure you Mag. is in line because if not them you will get the precipitation on pumps that thegrun talked about.

What was it before you dosed and where is your Alk/dhK?