HIGH CALCIUM and Magnesium. PLEASE HELP

[Reefadiction]

My 180gal tank crashed 7 months ago and been recovering since. In the past 5months all vital para are good. But 3 weeks ago Calcium and Magnesium slowly climbed.Calcium from 1300 to over 1500 and Magnesium from 1350 to just under 1500. Only running skimmer and reactor is disconnected.
Current parameters:
Ph 8.0
Nitrate 1 to 2
Phosphate under 0.03
Alk 8
Calcium over 1500
Magnesium 1490
Salinity 1.024
Temp 80f
Can high Cal and Mag bring ill affects to sps or even soft corals? If so how can i bring it down with out water changes. I did 25percents water change and it brought the Cal and Mag down by roughly 5percents. But this large water change give my fish ick. Any advices is greatly appreciated. Thanks guys

[kengeroo]

recent posts have mentiond high MAG levels in efforts to battle bryopsis,,,
People have mentioend levels 2000+,,

dont think high Cal levels will hurt anything other than your pumps


as long as the climb is gradual I think you are safe...

[Reefadiction]

recent posts have mentiond high MAG levels in efforts to battle bryopsis,,,
People have mentioend levels 2000+,,

dont think high Cal levels will hurt anything other than your pumps


as long as the climb is gradual I think you are safe...
Yeah they climb slowly. I only have a few corals mostly sps and chalice now. And 5 fish. Croals are happly so far with great colors. Thanks for the input. It eases my concern abit. I just dont want another nuke happens to my tank again. Still hurt from last 1. Any chance you can post alink to that recent post in regard to Mag? Thank You very much.
Happy reefing...

[Bblinks]

Calcium is at what? Are you sure that's correct? What kind of test kits are you using? I would suggest to get a third party to test your water like the local fish store.

[Reefadiction]

Calcium is at what? Are you sure that's correct? What kind of test kits are you using? I would suggest to get a third party to test your water like the local fish store.

I used 2 different test kits. Salifert and Api. They both shows same result. Calcium at 1500 and above. I also notice calcification on my glass in the past couple of weeks. Sure i will bring a sample ti a LFS tomorrow

[kengeroo]

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=122164

buried in there somewhere


Yeah they climb slowly. I only have a few corals mostly sps and chalice now. And 5 fish. Croals are happly so far with great colors. Thanks for the input. It eases my concern abit. I just dont want another nuke happens to my tank again. Still hurt from last 1. Any chance you can post alink to that recent post in regard to Mag? Thank You very much.
Happy reefing...

[gtareef]

I have never seen CAL at 1500 and didn't even know that was possible while your other parameters are in check.

Did you test all parameters for the new water mix? How are your corals, do they look stress? If you disconnected your cal reactor and CAL readings are climbing then something is off.

BTW - my corals when stress they don't consume any ALK or CAL for 4-6 weeks.

[gregzz4]

I agree with Rich. How could your Ca be that high?

How did you test it? My Salifert kit only reads up to 500. Did you refill the syringe a couple times to get the 1300 to 1500 reading?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe a Ca reading anywhere over 500 will cause precipitation, and buildup on warm/electrically charged hardware. You'd have caked calcium all over your pumps/heaters and probably everything else it wants to attach to!!

[WarDog]

Something just not right here. Are you dosing?... cause that needs to stop... stat.

[gregzz4]

After re-reading your original post ...

Confirm your test results with your LFS.

First find out why your readings are so high. Test your newly mixed water before use to establish what you're adding to your tank; ie Alk Ca and Mag.
As Warren stated, stop dosing now if you currently are.
Perform some more 'large' water changes with new water that is closer to ideal parameters. But, do so knowing what you are adding to your system. Read on ...

This next part answers your question about your high Ca. I know of nothing you can do aside from water changes that will safely drop it besides your corals consuming it.

Again, the best way to drop the levels of your Ca and Mag is using new water with lower levels.

And to answer your question about your corals, just leave a couple or few days between water changes so they have time to adjust to the drop in levels.

Some math for you, 'cause it's what I'm famous for :mrgreen:

You're going to want to know how the new water will impact your current water. This will dictate how much water you'll change at one time.
Use My formula below. Click the link and enter your params in place of the letters. Only change v w x y and z.
DO NOT CHANGE ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. This will basically Destroy the formula :surprise:

And to make this stupid simple, Yes it works with almost ANY test param.
Alk, Ca, Mag, NO2, NO3, PO4 etc. If it can be divided, it works.

((V*W)+(X*Y))/Z (https://www.google.ca/search?q=((V*W)%2B(X*Y))%2FZ&oq=((V*W)%2B(X*Y))%2FZ&aqs=chrome..69i57&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8).

V=Amount of existing tank water left behind during water change. IE; 100g system and 25g WC, your answer is 75g.
W=Current test parameter of tank water.
X=Amount of new water to be added to tank.
Y=Current test parameter of new water.
Z=Total tank/sump volume.

So, if you have 100 gallons of total water, and perform a 25G WC, V = 75 and X = 25.
And if your tank reads, say, Ca 410, and your new water reads 260, W = 410 and Y = 260.
For Z, you MUST know the total system volume!!!!

I double checked my formula through Google and it's good. Just be sure to enter stuff correctly.
If you want to confirm it, my control numbers result in 418.91, and are listed below.

V = 90g Old water
W = 420 Ca in old water
X = 25g New water
Y = 415 Ca in new water
Z = 115g Total system volume

[Reefadiction]

After reading all your comments i went and bought another Calcium test kit. I now feel less worry but more stupid. My calcium reading with this new test kit shows result around 480 which is still slightly higher than average recommendation. Will this level be ok for my corals in the long run? I do appreciate all your comments.

[DKoKoMan]

These values are strangely high. Are you dosing any kind of additives to the tank (may be increasing your big 3).

[WarDog]

After reading all your comments i went and bought another Calcium test kit. I now feel less worry but more stupid..

Your secret is safe here.

Will this level be ok for my corals in the long run? I do appreciate all your comments.

480, although a little high, will be just fine. Let it drop naturally and test every 2 - 3 days until at a more comfortable level.

[gregzz4]

480, although a little high, will be just fine. Let it drop naturally and test every 2 - 3 days until at a more comfortable level.
Much better than 1300-1500!!
Do as Warren suggests. Use my formula if you'd like to check how much your water changes will alter your tank parameters.
Otherwise, let it fall on it's own, but it will take a very long time without large corals to consume it.