please help

I recently realized that my Ca was unbelieveably high as well as my alkalinity I also realized that the salt I was using and was testing out at 500ppm of Ca. It was Oceanic. Using Salifert test kits Ca is off the charts and alkalinity is at 15.7DKH I have done three 20 gallon water changes in the last two weeks 2 with Oceanic salt and 1 with Instant Ocean still I do not see a positive result from the change. Everything seems to be doing fine I am afraid to do more big water changes but It hink that this is the only way to get everything leveled out. No supplements added All water was RODI Please help. New to this I thought I was doing well until I bought real test kits.

 

Hello and welcome to 3 Reef!!

If you are doing water changes with the Oceanic, that won't really bring down your numbers, you are still adding the elements.

Personally, I would wait and see if it begins to come down on it's own, using only the RO/DI water for top off of evaporation. If all the animals look and act fine...that is what I would do. The calcium will get used and that will begin to come down.

Just be patient....

 

question...or well statement wanting confirmation...can u really have too much Ca? in reason of course...not like 100000000000000ppm but i think it will just make the water a bit cloudy....anyone know?

 

Once you hit the saturation point of the water (based on pH, alk, temp, and so forth) the calcium will precipitate out of solution...making it look like it is snowing in your tank.

 

Also to much Ca will result in sub-optimal growth in califying animals.

 

I just wanted to say thanks for the replies.I went into this blind about 15 months ago I didn't even buy real test kits until two weeks ago I switched to Instant Ocean salt. I bought a full set of Salifert test kits. My Ca is still 520 alk is 15.7DKH and phosphates are around 2.00. Pretty crazy numbers huh? Would like advice on lowering phosphates I was going to keep doing 20 gallon water change every week with RODI water to try to lower phosphates and alkalinity. i am very nervous to do this. Like I said tank seems to be doing fine but phosphates are adding to algae. Started the tank on tap water the RODI unit is new as well. I have attached a pic here I don't think it looks bad but the tests are the same at the LFS. So I think testing is accurate. Any advice is appreciated.

 

Take a deep breath!!!! In..........a n d ..........o...u...t....

Do not panic! We make mistakes when we panic.

If you want to go ahead and try one more water change with the RO/DI water..that should effect some change. But given time, it will come down on it's own. Calcium is used by the pretty purple corralline algae. Do smaller water changes....say 10% once per week. Slow changes.

The animals look fine from what I can see. the shrooms are open and fish are swiming. It will be fine ;D ;D

 

I had a similar problem, and turns out I wasn't mixing the oceanic long enough before adding it to the tank. Since then I let it mix 24 hrs. or better before using it. You can e-mail the guys at oceanic from their web page. Their going to want to know test results from your mix and your tank.

 

OK...you all keep mentioning Oceanic salt here. I am useing this brand right now. Is there something I dont know about this brand? I needed some and it was all my LFS had so instead of paying shipping for a bucket I bought this. Is this bad salt?

[smiley=worried.gif]

 

There are a handful of peeps out there attributing major problems to Oceanic Salt. See here....

http://www.3reef.com/cgi-bin/yabb/Y...n=display;num=1080587253;start=0;showall=true


It seems to have been quite some time since I have seen posts regarding major problems so perhaps it has been resolved. Or the problems were otherwise attributable.

Other than that, it appears that Oceanic runs on the pretty high side Calcium wise. Over 500 in many cases. Some say low Alk as well, others say Alk is fine. If you have lower calcium, it may be a good choice. I am thinking of trying it just for that reason.