Everything is too High!

So I have been getting my water from the LFS, and it is obviously mixed with some super high grade salt. I have just starting really testing for Cal, Mag, Alk on a regular basis, and the results are as follows:

Cal - 525-550 (My test only goes to 500, so I'm guessing a bit)
Mag - 1650
Alk 8-9 which is cool
Salinity 1.026
ph 7.9-8.0

Should I be concerned with my Cal/Mag levels being this high?

It looks to me that I will begin mixing my water, as I am firm believer in regular water changes, but obviously don't need my mix to be that concentrated.

 

Doesn't look that bad to me.

 

It depends on how much and often you change and your tanks usage of the macro nutrients.

 

As long as it's consistent, and you do regular wc's, I wouldn't complain, personally.

 

Are you asking how often I do water changes? Usually every 3-4 weeks, and only 15% of the total water volume. The thing is, my levels for mag and calcium don't seem to drop even after 3 weeks. Only my alk seems to drop consistently if I am not dosing it up.

 

If you don't have a lot of SPS, that's not surprising.

 

mg and ca will appear to drop much slow in proportion to alk due to the magnitude and precision of the test kits. In other words, the levels are higher and the test kits less specific. However, in these situations, IME, you need to ask how it got to those levels. For example, are you dosing ca and mg? if not what salt are you using. I doubt any salt is that high, so, if so, that would suggest your refractometer is off. If you are dosing mg, ca etc... maybe you dosed too much. Tough to guess without more info.

 

What about the test kits, like mentioned on the otherforum?

 

I don't have a lot of SPS, and I understand that is why they are not being depleted as much. And this is the salt that my LFS uses. H2Ocean Natural Reef Salt | The Aquarium Solution

My test kits are as good as I can get. I use Salifert for Calcium and Magnesium, I also use the Red Sea pro kit for magnesium to compare, always the same results. I use Hanna checkers for ph, alk, and phos.

 

Looking at the manufacturers results and yours, it looks more like your refractometer may be out of calibration, to be honest.