Calcium raising but I am not adding

[BIG FISH]

My cal levels are going up but I haven't added any calcium chloride my ALK is at 10 now and cal is 500 when my alk was at 11 my cal was at 450 but as my alk has dropped my cal has gone up is this normal and should I just raise the alk to 11? I thought 10 was not too bad. Is there any other factors I should be considering? I am running phosban in a reactor would this be affecting my calcium levels?

 

[xraided199]

well, for one, yes when alk goes up, cal goes down and vice versa. these are always indirectly proportional if i am not wrong. the fact that you are not adding any obviously is perplexing that it's rising, but i tend to think that it's more of the fact that something is causing your alk to fall, which involuntarily is causing your cal to rise. 10-11 is actually fairly high for alk IMO, but if it worked for you with the corals you have, then that's fine because dKh range is usually 7 or 8-11.

i can't really say what would be causing alk to fall, but i know it has happened to me in the past, and it was a whole bunch of factors, including dosing of completely unrelated elements. it started to fall, and cal actually got up to 600! (yikes!), but after a certain point anyway calcium cannot really be soaked up by inverts and corals, so calcification occurs and that's when you get the build up on your pumps and equipment. i never had a big problem with high calcium, but just make sure that your alk isn't swinging too often, because SPS especially will feel the wrath and start looking a little under par. i know i couldn't answer your question completely, but just know that calcium and alk almost always go in opposite directions.

 

[BIG FISH]

Thanks xraided199. I will play it by ear luckily I have not put any coral in my tank yet it just got done cycling but I was planning on putting a few things in. I might have to wait till I get things a little more stable. Just curious what do you run your alk at.

 

[Paul_N]

I run my alk in the 9-10 range. The key with alk is stability more than a certain number. If you are not adding any calcium supplement then it just may have been a testing error. The phosban will not have any effect on your calcium levels. I would say test a few more times to make sure.

 

[RBursek]

Exraided has been exayed too many times!!! No Alk or PH additive will raise CA. For every 1 drop dkh in Alk, Ca will drop 7ppm That is the only a relationship with Alk and Ca, alk and PH have a pure relationship, low Mg will keep Ca low and hard to raise to proper levels until you get Mg up to proper levels, but those 2 have no relationship with PH and Alk. Go to the stickies posted at the top of this Chemistry forum subject and open them and read about the relationships. It is a bad test kit, operater error. What salt are you using and what is your amount and time schedule on your water changes?