I dont understand my Calcium test results - looking for insight

jkobel

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 23, 2016
Messages
253
Reaction score
121
Location
Boston, MA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have an Apex and Trident and BRS 1.1ml dosers for Ca/Alk.
Total system water volume is 140 gals
Water level in the tank/sump has been consistent via ATO

The Alk seems fine, usage and test results make sense. The test results for Ca are all over the place and my usage of Calcium doesnt seem to add up - this is where I'm looking for help.

When I calibrated the doser it was pumping 2ml/minute.
I believe I'm dosing 30ml/day of Calcium.

Attached is my test data from the last 7 days. I cant tell if the Trident is getting bad results, or if the dosing is somehow not working.

Where I'm getting really tripped up right now is that in those two consecutive days where the graph somewhat makes sense, it seems that there is a difference of about 21 ppm of Ca and I have seen that same delta previously in the graph so I believe my tank is consuming about 21 ppm /day. What doenst make any sense to me is that when I use the BRS calculator to confirm, in order to raise by 21 ppm I would need to add 229ml (I'm only adding 30ml today).

Has anyone seen anything like this? I've been using the trident for about a month so having this much data is foreign to me and I'm not sure I'm leveraging it correctly. If my tank is consuming 21 ppm/day of Ca, I would think I would be flying thru Calcium with my doser, but I'm barely using any

Thx for any insight

2024-02-10_15-50-52.png
 

jda

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 25, 2013
Messages
14,343
Reaction score
22,422
Location
Boulder, CO
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Trident is not always reliable. First step is to check the findings. Never assume that it did anything right without verification.

Do you have a good calcium test kit? What does it say?
 

Garf

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 23, 2020
Messages
5,751
Reaction score
6,706
Location
BEEFINGHAM
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have an Apex and Trident and BRS 1.1ml dosers for Ca/Alk.
Total system water volume is 140 gals
Water level in the tank/sump has been consistent via ATO

The Alk seems fine, usage and test results make sense. The test results for Ca are all over the place and my usage of Calcium doesnt seem to add up - this is where I'm looking for help.

When I calibrated the doser it was pumping 2ml/minute.
I believe I'm dosing 30ml/day of Calcium.

Attached is my test data from the last 7 days. I cant tell if the Trident is getting bad results, or if the dosing is somehow not working.

Where I'm getting really tripped up right now is that in those two consecutive days where the graph somewhat makes sense, it seems that there is a difference of about 21 ppm of Ca and I have seen that same delta previously in the graph so I believe my tank is consuming about 21 ppm /day. What doenst make any sense to me is that when I use the BRS calculator to confirm, in order to raise by 21 ppm I would need to add 229ml (I'm only adding 30ml today).

Has anyone seen anything like this? I've been using the trident for about a month so having this much data is foreign to me and I'm not sure I'm leveraging it correctly. If my tank is consuming 21 ppm/day of Ca, I would think I would be flying thru Calcium with my doser, but I'm barely using any

Thx for any insight

2024-02-10_15-50-52.png
If your using 21ppm calcium daily, I think that'd deplete your alkalinity quite thoroughly, by about 3.5 dkh. If that's not happening, well, there's the answer.
 

HAVE YOU EVER KEPT A RARE/UNCOMMON FISH, CORAL, OR INVERT? SHOW IT OFF IN THE THREAD!

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
Back
Top