too much calcium??

ok so i have been dosing calcium to my 90 gallon reef tank, i think i may be dosing a little much because i tested calcium yesterday and it was off the charts, im talking about 900 ppm. will this affect anything? is this harmful in any way should i try to bring it down?

 

It will make it very difficult to keep your alk up, and you will most likely have heavy deposition on your equipment. Water changes are the only way to bring it down fairly quickly. I would try to avoid dropping it more than 50ppm per day.

 

my alkilinity is 125 ppm, i think thats pretty good. but will this high calcium take a toll on my corals and fish?

 

+1 on above

but also
do you know your current Mag level? becuase elevated Mag levels can cause miss reading on test kits IME

also get your test kit/ test results double checked before taking any action

you will need to know what your DKH / Alk is
because if that Calcium is correct, you may have a problem with severely low DKH

Steve

 

my mag is at 1500 ppm, also i tested it 3 times because i couldnt believe it and it was the same all the time. and my alkilinity levels are 125 ppm

 

bvb

it may be worth getting someone else, with a different test kit to verify the results
if its a faulty test kit and you get same results 3 times, those results are questionable

example learned from Habib CEO of Salifert

test kits which are not tightly screwed down can evaporate, thus the contents become less diluted and can result in test kits giving false readings either high or low, depending on if the test reacts quickly or slowly to additions being made

thus if your test kit is one that less drops = higher level - it may have a false high due to evaporation and thus more concentrated liquid being used

just a good idea to get a 3rd party test kit involved to make sure you dont react to problems which are a problem with the test kit

Steve

 

i have used several test kits on it, after i saw the results i was shocked and i went to the lfs got another 40 dollar test kit thinking mine was faulty got that one home had the exact results.

 

OK

So lets say the 900 PPM is accurate
and that you have 1500ppm Mag
and that 125 ppm = 7DKH

whats your specific gravity at present?

Steve

 

its 1.025

 

OK

done some reasearch on this subject - simply because that number 900 seems far to high

but based on my findings - the numbers you are showing are in fact possible
and dont always result in precipitation

what you should not do
do not add anything to increase the DKH above 8 - 7 is fine
if you try and raise the DKH , you may end up with a snowstorm and carbonates falling out of solution and coating your heater, pumps etc

do not add anything to increase PH - that also needs to remain at 8 or slightly under is OK

do not add anything to increase calcium - stop dosing whatever it is you are dosing

you have options

1) a series of 20% water changes whilst ensuring the new water you make does not have DKH above 8 - as otherwise you could end up with a snowstorm when you add it to tank

2) allow it to lower naturally with utilisation and in the mean time continue testing DKH and ensure this does not drop below 7

Steve