Calcium WAY too high, test kit bad or idiot tester?

[Aquariust]

Hey All, just got my calcium kit from pet warehouse. The kit is by SeaTest. I followed the directions, and by my calculations, I had a calcium of 600ppm! I immediately did the whole test again. Same thing. Hmmm...

I know my tank can't be 600ppm. My tank is a 55, and I've had corals in it for 3-4 months. I do regualar water changes, 10% bi weekly. I also dose Kent Calcium and Essential Elements every 2 weeks. I do not use kalk. Funny too bc I was trying to set up a DIY kalk doser bc I was sure my Ca was going to be low. Corals use Ca right? If they're using it, why so much ppm? All levels are normal, nitrate zero. my only problem is the Ca now. Can too much Ca be bad for corals? I'm guessing so bc my shrooms have receded and my cup coral is doing so-so, but everything else is doing awesome.

Maybe the test kit is bad? Anyone using this test kit email me or reply please. I'd like to know what I'm doing wrong, if anything. It says it has like 30 or so tests. How can that be if I've already used half of the liquid reagent (drip by drip stuff until it turns blue) on 2 tests? I get to 40 drips and the water is still a bit purple. Then multiply 40 x 15 = 600ppm. What am I doing wrong?

[MarkS]

I don't know about the SeaTest kit, but with the Salifert kit I had a little syringe with .01 mL gradations. I had to drip the reagent with the little syringe until the water changed color and then read the amount of reagent in the syringe to find out how much calcium. The number of drops had nothing to do with the results.

Clear as mud, but I hope it helps.

Mark

[the_blue_tuna]

If your Ca gets to high it will precipitate out of the water and your sand bed will get a concrete like . You would definately notice that . Another thing to consider , something that gives me big problems , is that fact that mens color perception is not as acute as a womans.Maybe you should get your girlfriend to help you do the test again,,,,,,,just dont let your wife find out

[naser]

LOL good one blue.

[kevinpo]

I have used this test kit many times with out any trouble. It will make a big difference in the color rendering depending on what light source you view the liquid in. Try to view it it natural light and take a white peice of paper and place it behind it.

Hope this helps,
Kevin

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Aquariust:

FWIW, 600 ppm calcium is not so high that it is impossible. In fact, from the perspective of calcium carbonate precipitation, the following are equally likely to cause precipitation of CaCO3 because they all have the same supersaturation of CaCO3.

pH 8.2, 2.5 meq/L alk; 600 ppm Ca++
pH 8.2, 3.75 meq/L alk; 400 ppm Ca++
pH 8.5; 2.5 meq/L alk; 400 ppm Ca++

Many reefers have the second or third, so the first is quite possible.

However, you don't mention either the pH or the alkalinity, so it is hard to say whether 600 ppm is likely in your tank or not.

[Aquariust]

my ph is 8.2 and alk is 3meq/L

My sand bed is not like concrete.

My girl is always telling me I'm color blind I hold it up to my 150W Halogen white floor light, the background is white clam shell on my window sill, so the background is white.

[Toadally]

It is most likely the test kit. I've used that kit before and they are for the most part accurate. I ran into a problem last year testing calcium. I bought a Hagen brand kit and my tests were way off. I took it back to the LFS and we tested four different brands, all were way off. Some were as much as 100ppm. So which kit is accurate? dunno.....but most reefers use Salifert.