I don't know what level my calcium is!!!!!

Make up water for a water change and test it - it should be about 450. If its not your test kit has failed or you are not useing it correctly.

Let us know what you test the make up water at.

If its 450 - then please answer the above questions MAG and DKH -- and do a water change.

 

My best advice is take a sample to your LFS and see what they get.

 

I followed the instructions properly.

My test kit is not out of date, nor inaccurate, seeing as the API test that's new confirms the results.

I'm going to test again with the salifert, the api, alkaline and Ph.

 

Just finished the tests.

Ph: looks like 8.0

API Ca test: 640

Salifert Ca test: 1000 Judging that 0.00 left in syringe = 500ppm, and I used TWO syringe fulls to get the light blue color change.

Alkalinity: 6.4 dKH

Does that make any sense :-s

 

Nope no sense at all. Take it to someone and have them test it. Water can only hold on to soo much before it becomes over full. Someone told me of the "bowl with gumballs" Calcium is red, mag is blue, and kh white gumballs. Your bowl can only hold a set number of balls, anything over will cause it to spill over. So...if your bowl can hold 120 balls, then say your cal, mag, kH is 40 apiece. Then say you add more red balls to 60 (cal) then you will either have to take a. some other balls out, or b. the other balls are going to spill out of bowl (snowstorm)

So....something is not right. Either you are not doing the test correct, you are not noticing the color change, your tests are all expired, or somehting. So just take a sample in

 

Went to the LFS (hour long train ride and back in this 97 ℉ weather) and the test kit wasn't in the store :-|

I left the water, waiting for a call.

 

UPDATE!

So the LFS called and she said she got the same super high reading as I did.

630 or something like that.


So I'm holding off on calcium adding for the next couple weeks or so.


Will adding alkaline help drop it? That is outside of water change?

 

raising your dkh will help drop the calcium level. dkh you usually want between 8 and 12.

 

I think I got 6.8 on my last test, yesterday (Sunday afternoon)

I don't get how my calcium was so high to begin with. It must have been high all this time. Before the corals, and quite a while after I didn't add any calcium in the tank.

I'll hold off on calcium for maybe the next two weeks, meanwhile adding the alkaline, and test again on saturday. See how it's going.

 

best of luck rewris. youll get it straightened for sure.