I'd be trying a different test kit. I haven't seen a bucket that low in any of the three Aquaforest salts.

I have a 40g mixed reef that I've had going for a year, it's sumpless with a Tunze 9004 skimmer and an Aquaclear 70 that I use for carbon and phosguard. I started using the AF reef salt a few weeks ago and all was good. I then stared using the Pro Bio S and NP Pro almost 2 weeks ago. I dose one drop of each one night and then 2 drops each the next. Since I started on this I've started to get a light fluffy algae on my rocks and tank glass, does this seem like a normal process when starting with this stuff? I've since taken out the Phosguard as I read not to use alumina based phosphate removers with AF products so I don't know if that is a cause. I'm hesitant to get the coral additives until this algae disappears. Phosphate levels are 0.03 or less when tested with a Hanna Ultra Low Phosphorus checker. Alk is around 7dkh and Calcium is a bit high at 468. Any thoughts?

Jordon/Myka, thanks for your replies and your patience. I think I'm going to have to get a new test kit. I stupidly threw out my Red Sea test kit when I got my Hanna checker. Myka, you mentioned that you use a Nyos test kit. I'll see if I can find one of those online.

That's what we're here for!

LOL, I did the same thing when I got my Hanna checker. Got a little too excited to "easy" tests. Needless to say I bought a salifert test a few tests later!

I don't use Nyos. I use Salifert for calcium (I used to use Elos, but they are hard to find these days). I test alkalinity with both Hanna Checker and Salifert. I haven't used the Red Sea Pro kits for calcium and alkalinity yet, but I'd like to give them a shot. I love the RSP Nitrate kit, but their Mg kit is annoyingly complicated, so I prefer Salifert for Mg. Honestly, you can't go wrong sticking with Salifert for all your testing needs other than PO4.

Doesn't sound like anything I have experienced or read about anyone else experiencing yet. Why is calcium so high? IMO that's not "a bit high", that's really high. If you're keeping alkalinity around 7.0 dKH, then calcium should be really close to 410 ppm. To put it in perspective, calcium level of 470 ppm has balanced alkalinity of 15.4 dKH.

Hey Mindy,

Any updates with your SPS turning green?

I was using a Hanna Checker for calcium and Alk. Calcium was at 478 on Saturday (after a water change), 468 on Sunday and 450 today using a Salifert kit. I haven't dosed anything just water changes using AF reef salt for the past month (5g weekly). I guess I'll have to mix up a new batch and measure as the numbers on the certificate seem to be way off. So I don't know why calcium is so high but I'm guessing the salt mix.

Mixed new water for a few hours and brought it up to 78 degrees. Salinity is 35ppt, Alk 7.56 (Hanna), Calcium 400 (Salifert, measured twice). I suspect calcium is high due to Reef Crystals previously being used. Tank calcium is now 430-440 and Alk has dropped to 6.66 dkh. I also have AF Component 1, 2, 3 so I guess I just add Component 2 to bring up my Alk to 7.5 and then maintain it at this level until calcium drops to about 420 and then start dosing all 3 components from this point on to maintain levels?

No you can't do this with Component 1+2+3+ because you can't buy the Components separate -they only come in a 3 pack so you have to dose all three equally. You need to dose Sodium bicarbonate to maintain alkalinity until calcium comes down. Once Ca is 410, alk is 7.0, and Mg is 1240 then you can start using the Components 1+2+3+.

I think it's the Hanna Checker. What other salt do you have around? Maybe mix up some IO (since it has lower calcium) and see if you can get the proper reading from it.