Cal. level dropped after W/C

[firefightered]

My tank has been (i think) trying to crash on me. I have been doing 10% water changes every couple of day to get my perimeters back in line. I rescaped my rock to get rid of some dead spots. I checked my cal. before the water change (360) After the change it dropped to 280. What would cause this and what can i do to fix it? I use IO salt.

 

[florida reef]

It could be an inconsistency in the salt or maybe the test kit was off. Did you test it more than once? 360 is a little low to begin with. A bad batch of salt may explain the trouble you've been having keeping your parameters in line. I'm not definitively saying that's the cause, but I have read some bad experiences with bad batches of salt.

 

[seareefrun]

Alot of the time this is caused by not enough total hardness( dkh at 9) to keep the tempoary hardness( 3.8-4.2meg/L ).

 

[shred5]

My tank has been (i think) trying to crash on me. I have been doing 10% water changes every couple of day to get my perimeters back in line. I rescaped my rock to get rid of some dead spots. I checked my cal. before the water change (360) After the change it dropped to 280. What would cause this and what can i do to fix it? I use IO salt.

Check youR saltwater used for makeup.. I had a bad batch of coral life salt once. Either they left out the calcium or it did not dissolve. Salt can get old.

Dave Polzin

 

[firsttime]

It sounds like a bad batch of salt.

Also if you are using salt from bucket, tumble the salt before using it.

 

[firefightered]

now that I think of it, when I opened this bag and started using it. I have started seeing cyno bacteria and lots of hair algea and my perimeters have droped (alk,cal,ect.) I may have goten a bad batch...... Ive been at my witts end trying to figure out what is going on with my tank. It's only a 46gal bf so it will effect it faster than a larger tank. So I guess if i continue using this bag of salt I could be doing more harm than good. I guess I'll go out and get some new salt mix.........

 

[subielover]

What are the rest of your parameters? IO has lower ca and mag numbers but their alk is usually very high (around 12 dkh.)

 

[firefightered]

Alk went from 7DKH to 8DKH., Cal. went from 360 to 280. I was increasing water changes to help lift my perimeters. I was trying to boost both alk and cal. But look what happened.