Overdose effect on Corals?

I did a few test on my water this morning and learned that my KH was slightly high at 160ppm and my Calcium was extremely high at 640ppm, would this have any ill effect long or short term on my Corals if I do not get these levels down?

 

Well a KH of 8.9 is not high. I like around 9.
Calcium is very high though and could pose an issue. I would check the Magnesium level.

 

definitely check your mag

Also, are you dosing 2 part?

 

ohhh! Another test kit, hahaha! Whats dosing 2 part? Some of my Yellow Polyp Corals are not opening and a turning dark colored then of course dying.. As far as I know and I should check my stuff, but I don't think I been adding Mag.

 

kh is good IMO. I like to keep mine around 9-13.
2 part is a supplement that comes in 2 bottles, one raises calcium, and one raises alkalinity. Do you dose anything for your tank? Also what salt do you use. There are certain salts that contain more calcium then others.

As far as your magnesium, you do need to test it. The three (kh, calcium and mg) are intertwined. If one level is elevated high, then chances are one other is low. This is how i was taught to understand these levels.....very basic way but the way that made the most sense to me.....

imagine a bowl of 3 color bubble gum balls. Only so many can fit into a bowl wihtout falling out. Imagine your ca being blue, your mg being green and alk being yellow. If you increase the number of blue gumballs, there is going to be a spillage of the other colors causing something else to be low.....in your case I would be the magnesium. The amount that the bowl can hold will depend on your specific gravity.....so that will need to be checked.

If any one of the elements is low or out of whack, you will find it much harder to keep the other ones in line. Take for example in my tank. I must dose alk every day at double the dose. I very rarely need to dose calcium, and even less so the mg. I noticed that regardless on how much I was dosing the alk, i could not keep it above 6 (which is REALLY bad for SPS) I tested my mg and it was really low. So I started dosing mag again and now my kh is stable at 12!

As far as how your calcium got elevated, it is hard to say. Again could be your salt mixture. The other thing to consider is your test kit. Calcium is one test that I hate to do. We use the API kit and the color change is often very subtle and can be inaccurate. You might want to have your LFS test it.

Regardless, I would not do anything to drop your calcium. Nothing will happen (unless you dose calcium in which case would probably cause a snow storm) So dont dose calcium. Test your mag and your SG.

 

Actually its Magnesium that determines how many gumballs will stay in solution.lol If your Magnesium is low your Alk. and Calcium will fall out of solution and become unstable. This is why as a general rule I always like to keep my Magnesium at three times the level of Calcium.(just like natural seawater). For instance if you want to keep your calcium at 450 you should aim for a Magnesium level of 1350. I find it easiest to raise the Magnesium first otherwise you will just chase numbers as the Calcium and Alk. will fluctuate. After achieving the desired Magnesium level then dose the other parts until you get them to the numbers you like.

 

awesome! Thank you!

 

Wonderful 2 post.