source of high calcium

[loggix]

hi new to forum, just have quick question about really high calcium
my tank is cycled, its about 9 wks old now, tested my water its over 800
went down to lfs they tested it same reading, they told me to do water changes did that, still high tested my r/o water normal, my tap water normal, they said it wouldnt hurt anything but like most newbies i have to know why, i use kent salt i contacted them they said they have some trace elements butnot enough to do that my salinity is stable at 1.022
giong through a diatom bloom on my sand just curious i guess
heres a rundown of my specs
20 gallon high tank
30 lbs of oolitic sand
20to 22 lbs of cycled figi rock
150 visitherm heater
coralife 2x65 pc
aquaclear 150 w/ purigen and floss
fluval w/ black diamond carbon
full cleaning crew
couple of cardinals
couple of small pieces of rainbow rock in sand
3 softies
1 powerhead so far
any ideas ? thanks

[loggix]

just a thought, would my calcium spike come from rainbow rock?

[Beverly]

Would be interested in what both RO and tapwater tested at.

[loggix]

hi thanks for your reply
when they tested the r/o water they put in 2 drops and the color
changed same with the tap water, when my tank water was tested
it took 7to 8 drops for the water tochange color
the test was for calcium. but they didnt check any others besides the ph
the ph was 8.2 hope that helps?

[Aquattro]

um, pretty sure you couldn't get 800 ppm Ca, it would precipitate out well below that.
What kind of test kit? Are you testing CaCO3 hardness (carbonate) or total hardness (Ca + Mg)?

Oh, and welcome to the board!

[loggix]

hi ,no i havent tested either yet thanks ill try that, and sorry didnt put in original post that first time itwas tested there was a snowy residue
on topof myrocks, but now theres none and according to my lfs the calcium levels are still high, the test they where using was i think a hagen
master test kit, but isnt that for freshwater guess ishould buy some salifert tests thanks

[Beverly]

Hagen has SW test kits. I use a Hagen calcium kit. 8 drops from the third bottle of the test kit would be very low calcium. Multiply 8 drops by 20 to get ppm with the Hagen kit, which would be 160 ppm calcium in your case. Don't know why your lfs says your calcium is at 800

By all means, get some test kits so you can measure readings at home. From what you say about the lfs, I don't have much faith in them

[loggix]

thank youfor your help bev

[loggix]

you where right bev, 160 at least i have you people here who have a
clue lol how do i get it back up? kalk?

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by loggix

you where right bev, 160 at least i have you people here who have a
clue lol how do i get it back up? kalk?

if it's that low, a whater change should do it.