Lowering calcium

jduong916 · Sep 29, 2022

Can you lower the calcium of NSW? I lower alk with acid but does that work for calcium? Is there anything else you can use?

vetteguy53081 · Sep 29, 2022

jduong916 said:
Can you lower the calcium of NSW? I lower all with acid but does that work for calcium?

When my vacuum jumped to 492, was acceptable but I stopped adding any. Went down only to 483 after a week
I did a 20% water change and brought salinity down To 1.024 and calcium dropped to 421
Also if alk is low, ca can elevate

jduong916 · Sep 30, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
When my vacuum jumped to 492, was acceptable but I stopped adding any. Went down only to 483 after a week
I did a 20% water change and brought salinity down To 1.024 and calcium dropped to 421
Also if alk is low, ca can elevate

I dont understand what youre saying lol. Sorry im really bad at reading typos

Tcook · Sep 30, 2022

jduong916 said:
I dont understand what youre saying lol. Sorry im really bad at reading typos

Replace vacuum with calcium. Maybe he was using Dragon?

vetteguy53081 · Sep 30, 2022

jduong916 said:
I dont understand what youre saying lol. Sorry im really bad at reading typos

I so hate spellcheck and word correct
When my calcium jumped is what it should have stated. To simplify , alk and ca work together . There is a close link between high alkalinity and a reduction in calcium. Raising Alk will lower CA, which I did and I also lowered Salinity to balance both values.
I had CA at near 500 and lowered it to 421 after water change and alk increase.

vetteguy53081 · Sep 30, 2022

Tcook said:
Replace vacuum with calcium. Maybe he was using Dragon?

That was an awesome interpretation. Anything else valueable you'd like to add?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 30, 2022

jduong916 said:
Can you lower the calcium of NSW? I lower alk with acid but does that work for calcium? Is there anything else you can use?

The usual use of the acronym NSW here is natural seawater. I'm having trouble imagining a scenario where one needs to lower the calcium in natural seawater.

Do you mean new salt water?

It can be done, but it's way more trouble than its worth.

To do so, I'd add sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate, precipitate out as much calcium as needed, let the solids settle, pour off the clear liquid, and then add acid to lower the alk back to normal. Then aerate to bring the pH back up to normal.

Tcook · Sep 30, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
That was an awesome interpretation. Anything else valueable you'd like to add?

Hey, just mentioning a likely scenario as I use Dragon every day. No need to get snotty. We're all here to enjoy reefing.

vetteguy53081 · Sep 30, 2022

Tcook said:
Hey, just mentioning a likely scenario as I use Dragon every day. No need to get snotty. We're all here to enjoy reefing.

Ahhh- whats dragon ? ( I know im behind time. . LOL )

Dburr1014 · Sep 30, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
Ahhh- whats dragon ? ( I know im behind time. . LOL )

Pardon Our Interruption...

Google Image Result for https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/e528c080-79a8-4ccb-b10c-81992f806bcb/de821bu-35e08bfd-b08e-4262-9e3c-8d1a3519dc5b.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQ

jduong916 · Sep 30, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
I so hate spellcheck and word correct
When my calcium jumped is what it should have stated. To simplify , alk and ca work together . There is a close link between high alkalinity and a reduction in calcium. Raising Alk will lower CA, which I did and I also lowered Salinity to balance both values.
I had CA at near 500 and lowered it to 421 after water change and alk increase.

Oh ok. Gotcha perfectly this time.

jduong916 · Sep 30, 2022

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
The usual use of the acronym NSW here is natural seawater. I'm having trouble imagining a scenario where one needs to lower the calcium in natural seawater.

Do you mean new salt water?

It can be done, but it's way more trouble than its worth.

To do so, I'd add sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate, precipitate out as much calcium as needed, let the solids settle, pour off the clear liquid, and then add acid to lower the alk back to normal. Then aerate to bring the pH back up to normal.

I meant new sea water, like the stuff in your mixing station waiting to be added to the tank. My salt mix is at 500 ppm calcium and i wanted to see if there was quick fix like using acid when reducing alk. I know 500 ppm calcium isnt a deal breaker, but if it was easy to lower i would adjust my New mix to what i prefer. From what you stated above i agree it aint worth the trouble.
Ive been in the hobby for a while and i always thought NSW was new salt water lol. I guess thats actually the most important thing i learned today.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 30, 2022

jduong916 said:
I meant new sea water, like the stuff in your mixing station waiting to be added to the tank. My salt mix is at 500 ppm calcium and i wanted to see if there was quick fix like using acid when reducing alk. I know 500 ppm calcium isnt a deal breaker, but if it was easy to lower i would adjust my New mix to what i prefer. From what you stated above i agree it aint worth the trouble.
Ive been in the hobby for a while and i always thought NSW was new salt water lol. I guess thats actually the most important thing i learned today.

Only easy way is to get a different salt mix.

what mix are you using? Most are not that high at 35 ppt salinity.