Calcium Increasing??

[SoonerBerrios]

Im a little concerned with my calcium levels. 3 weeks ago I dosed calcium to about 465, the following week my Salifert test kit showed 470. I tested yesterday at 47o and today at 470 and then outside of the Salifert test kit range. My alk is at 9.7, mag is at 1380. Don’t know if maybe the kit is bad or if I should be concerned. All coral look happy at the moment. Anyone know what may cause this?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Im a little concerned with my calcium levels. 3 weeks ago I dosed calcium to about 465, the following week my Salifert test kit showed 470. I tested yesterday at 47o and today at 470 and then outside of the Salifert test kit range. My alk is at 9.7, mag is at 1380. Don’t know if maybe the kit is bad or if I should be concerned. All coral look happy at the moment. Anyone know what may cause this?

What's the expiration date on your kit?

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Im a little concerned with my calcium levels. 3 weeks ago I dosed calcium to about 465, the following week my Salifert test kit showed 470. I tested yesterday at 47o and today at 470 and then outside of the Salifert test kit range. My alk is at 9.7, mag is at 1380. Don’t know if maybe the kit is bad or if I should be concerned. All coral look happy at the moment. Anyone know what may cause this?

I don't understand. You say that today, the calcium tested at 470ppm. Then you say it was outside the Salifert test kit range? Did you test again after you got the result of 470ppm today? If so, why? If you aren't dosing any calcium-containing supplements (two part or calcium hydroxide), I would suspect testing error. The Salifert calcium test kits max out at 500ppm, and that's only 30ppm more than your last reading, which is an error of only 6%. Our test kits are fairly accurate, but an error of +/- 5% or so is not that unusual.

Either that, or your your salt mix has high calcium and by performing water changes, you are raising your calcium. What salt are you using? Do you know what calcium is in your freshly mixed saltwater?

 

[SoonerBerrios]

I don't understand. You say that today, the calcium tested at 470ppm. Then you say it was outside the Salifert test kit range? Did you test again after you got the result of 470ppm today? If so, why? If you aren't dosing any calcium-containing supplements (two part or calcium hydroxide), I would suspect testing error. The Salifert calcium test kits max out at 500ppm, and that's only 30ppm more than your last reading, which is an error of only 6%. Our test kits are fairly accurate, but an error of +/- 5% or so is not that unusual.

Either that, or your your salt mix has high calcium and by performing water changes, you are raising your calcium. What salt are you using? Do you know what calcium is in your freshly mixed saltwater?

I tested a second time just in case part of it was user error. I use Red Sea Coral Pro, but haven’t done a water change in over a month. The second test today did not change color after a full 1ml of reagent. I plan on cleaning test kit with RODI in case I contaminated something and will test again tomorrow. Just odd my Ca hasn’t dropped.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It just sounds like you have very little demand for calcium and alkalinity. The Coral pro adds a lot and is close to the upper limit of many kits.

You can get an actual value by using a second syringe of fluid to get to the endpoint, and adding the two values together.