calcium too high... how to lower?

[FinzAquatics]

hey. second time im posting this queston. ive tested my calcium many times, had others test it also... same result. i am well over 500.

the thing is i DO NOT dose with any type of calcium. the only way calcium is added into my tank is through Red Sea Salt. other than that no salt is being added.

how do i lower this... its causing alot of stress on my sps. they are bleaching.

everything else in tank is good

 

[Dave]

You could start doing water changes with IO. I tested mine last night and the Ca was 340. Did you ever test your salt water before adding it to the tank? Maybe you bucket is really high in Ca. I just recently started having the same problem. I use super saturated kalk solution for top-off. The cold dry air has changed my evaporation rate to over a gallon a day. I am now trying to keep the Ca below 500 too.

 

[MikeG]

I agree test some fresh mixed salt water and report the results if you havn't already. Normally water changes would be the answer but that depends on what's going on with your salt!

 

[FinzAquatics]

i was told red sea was the way to go if im using RO. should i switch to instant ocean?

 

[Dave]

I don't know anything about red sea salt. But since it is the only source of your Ca then using a salt like IO (low in Ca) for water changes would slowly bring you down to where you want to be. If the red sea is way high in Ca then using it for water changes isn't going to help you lower the Ca. Mix up a fresh batch of red sea and test it for Ca.

 

[Andy O]

Is your calcium level dropping and then going up only when you are doing water changes or is it staying constant?

 

[merk1_99]

Whats the test kit you are using? Maybe try a different kit.

 

[FinzAquatics]

well doing a little research i did find that low alk can cause calcium not to drop... from what i read. so ive been buffering my alk to get it at 11-12. it was at 7-8

hopefully now that is fixed. ive been using 3 differnt test kits. my calcium now reads 500 on the saliferts test kit... before it didnt register... so hopefully i can get it to drop to the 450 mark from this point on

 

[chief]

i use Instan Ocean from one of those 50 lb. buckets... If I remember correctly, I mixed up a fresh batch of RO and that salt and it tested at 380 calcium. just thought I'd throw that out to ya for future reference. not sure if that's what it always is, i'll test again some other time.