reef sand

[Aaronreef]

Hello everyone.

I'm looking at changing my substrate,
I think the stuff I'm using now is buffering my calcium levels.
I'm going to put some of my current substrate in some RO water with a little power head and see what my calcium test results show.
Will my test kit work in RO water or does it need to be SW?

I'm looking at changing to Fiji pink, will this also cause a calicum level increase?

 

[Don_Jorge]

Most calcium tests are interchangeable, I know the api one works for both

 

[don_chuwish]

What are you currently using that has you worried? I love Tropic Eden sand - very low dust and comes in a variety of granule sizes.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Caribsea marine aragalive fiji pink sand is a calcium-rich aragonite marine substrate, packed with beneficial bacteria. A large beneficial bacteria population dramatically reduces cycling time in new setups and helps process ammonia in established tanks. carib Sea Fiji Pink is packed with minerals like calcium and strontium to promote coral growth plus beneficial, specially-selected water-purifying bacteria to reduce waste, ammonia and algae, and help maintain the ideal pH level in your tank.

 

[Aaronreef]

I'm just using a generic gravel at the Moment i brought it without really understanding what I was doing or wanted at the time it was when I first started the tank
Is it normal for substrate to cause high levels of calcium? Is there a substrate I can use that won't do this ?

This is what I currently have

 

[don_chuwish]

I've never seen that kind before, can't even get a good hit Googling. Looks like crushed coral though, which isn't uncommon but a bit old fashioned. Haven't heard of sand pushing up Ca levels though - only way that should be possible is if pH is so low it's getting dissolved. What are your Ca, Alk and pH levels?

 

[Aaronreef]

I still haven't tested it in a pot of RO water
Im guessing it's the sand as I can't get my calcium levels to drop
It's at 470-480
I'm using red sea blue bucket salt so it's not the salt
I'm dosing ATI pro only I've stopped dosing and just used bicarb to keep up alk
Yet my calc level is still at 470
The only other thing o could think of was the sand
I will test it this weekend to see if it is definitely that causing the issue