Lance's 225 gal tank

[marie]

Originally Posted by Lance

What the #%&* is going on?

I dose 250ml of BRS Calcium Chloride every morning via dosing pump (which takes 2.75 hours); and 230ml of Soda Ash via dosing pump in the evening (which takes about 2.5 hours). I manually dose 100ml of Mg every third day.
This regimen keeps Ca steady at 420 to 430; Alk at 8 to 9 and Mg at 1300 to 1325. I test every 2 weeks and these numbers never change.

UNTIL TODAY! Ca = 520 Alk = 5dKH Mg = 1320
I immediately thought the doser dripping the calcium had gone wonky and was over dosing which would also drive the alkalinity down. I checked the doser and it measured out exactly 250 ml. So I checked the alk doser as well and it is working perfectly. WTF!

I remember I opened a new container of BRS calcium chloride a while ago. Is it possible that BRS's mix is off? Or the wrong label was put on the pail? Anybody run into this before? I don't know whether I should throw the pail out or keep using it and adjust the dosing volumes. Thoughts?

Check your pumps and heater for precip. I've had that happen to me over a period of a few weeks...couldn't keep the alk level up for the life of me and then my pumps seized up and I discovered where it went. It could be your cal/alk demand has dropped causing your alk levels to get high and then precipitate out

[Lance]

Originally Posted by marie

Check your pumps and heater for precip. I've had that happen to me over a period of a few weeks...couldn't keep the alk level up for the life of me and then my pumps seized up and I discovered where it went. It could be your cal/alk demand has dropped causing your alk levels to get high and then precipitate out

Nope, pulled a pump apart: very little precip. I just don't understand what could have caused the Ca level to rise so fast. There has been no change in the tank, except for a few SPS and zoa frags I added four days ago. Corals are growing so the Ca requirements shouldn't have dropped. I'm really baffled by this one. I have stopped dosing Ca until the levels get back to normal and will see what happens.

[lastlight]

I would have suggested checking with another test kit but if all 3 went nuts since your last test then something must have really changed. You'd think you'd notice a bunch of unhappy corals if your consumption changed THAT much? At least it's easy enough to deal with but it'd be nice to know wth happened.

[Greenmaster]

Maybe the tank isn't consuming as much of the calcium as usual. I would try adjusting the levels. But I know nothing about dosing. That's just what makes sense to me.

*edit: I didn't see the other posts before posting mine as they were on the next page.

[Lance]

Originally Posted by lastlight

I would have suggested checking with another test kit but if all 3 went nuts since your last test then something must have really changed. You'd think you'd notice a bunch of unhappy corals if your consumption changed THAT much? At least it's easy enough to deal with but it'd be nice to know wth happened.

I did double check: Salifert and Elos kits. Mg levels are fine, it's the Ca and Alk that went wonky. Like you say, it's an easy fix, it's just baffling as to what would cause it.

[Mrfish55]

I know how to fix this, get a bigger tank and dilute with freshly mixed water till the level is correct! easy. P.S. dolphins don't care what the calcium level is.

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by Mrfish55

I know how to fix this, get a bigger tank and dilute with freshly mixed water till the level is correct! easy. P.S. dolphins don't care what the calcium level is.

This ain't West Ed Mall man lol.

[Greenmaster]

Maybe because the temp of the water is down, now that the summer is over, so the corals are not using as much calcium?

[Lance]

Originally Posted by Greenmaster

Maybe because the temp of the water is down, now that the summer is over, so the corals are not using as much calcium?

Nope. We have air conditioning. Tank temp stays pretty constant.

[Greenmaster]

Was just a guess... Does your tank get any light from outside?