Calcium Issue

[blkhawk10]

So some of my corals have been losing tissue lately and I tested calcium last night and discovered the reason was my calcium was at 360. I did a water change earlier today and tested my calcium about an hour later thinking it was going to go up and it was at 190 now. I tested it 3 times and the same thing with a salifert test kit. I then tested the water again with an api test kit and it says the calcium is ok so I'm confused on what to do. I haven't been dosing calcium for a while so I've decided to start now. How much should I start dosing on a regular basis? I did the BRS calculator and it said I need like 766.1 mL to get my calcium up to 410.

 

[Pappy]

I would bring to someone else with another kit and double check. What's the mag and alk at?

 

[blkhawk10]

Alk is at 10.8 ppm (hanna) and mag is at 1500 (salifert)

 

[Pappy]

Sounds like the cal kit is bad

 

[mike007]

Take a samplke to your lfs and have them double check it. Maybe your test kit is out of date. 360 will not cause corls to lose their tissue. You may have other issues.

 

[always reefin]

what are your phosphates and nitrates?

 

[Reefing Madness]

Depending on the age of the test, it may be out of date. Sanity check, test some RO water and see what it says.

 

[Swordfish215]

Your calcium being at 360 is not the reason for the corals tissue recession, especially considering your Alk is at 10+.......sounds like a faulty kit too me....You def. might wanna check your PO4 levels, they can be very detrimental to corals being able to construct their skeletons/sclerites....and your general parameters,pests,ostreobium algae.

 

[RavePartyReef]

I've had a bad Salifert batch Ca kit before. It gave me the worst results. But you said you were not dosing Ca for a while....that made me think you know why the corals are losing tissue. Do not dose it all at once though...start gradual consistent changes