hight calcium & alkaline levels with low ph ?

M

markm3

Member
i really dont know why .never add calcium to water, has any one got this situation before ,,or why this can happen ?
 
JP 1230

JP 1230

Member
I've been puzzled by the calcium/alkalinity relationship for over two years now.

Take a look at this article - Chemistry and The Aquarium -Calcium and Alkalinity

You seem to be in zone 4.

When I was in zone 4 I just let it ride...and did a few extra water changes. After a few months the extra high calcium reduced to normal.

Since then....Both of my tanks have fallen into zones 2 and 3....with low Alk and low calcium..... I've never had a problem with PH though, that has always been 8.2.

I can't seem to get my calcium to stay above 300ppm....and cant get Alk to stay above 2.0! I've been using Kent calcium and baking soda. Anyone have any product reccomendations?
 
JP 1230

JP 1230

Member
I meant to say....Originally, when I was in zone 4 with extra high calcium. I could not figure out why calcium was so dang high! I had not added any...similar to your troubles. ....eventually it lowered, then lowered more....now i can't get it back up.
 
coleBB

coleBB

Member
do you have a protien skimmer or any other type of air entering you tank?? do you use kalk? i plummed my air intake all out side using fresh air and started using kalk in my topoff. problem solved!!! worked for me and i had the exact same problem
 
R

ReefTycoon

Member
yeah, excess CO2 could be the culprit ! simple test to find out... take a cup of water from the tank and bring it into fresh air and aerate it with an air stone .... if the pH jumps up then you know you have excess CO2 in your tank water .... or it's something like that .... lol haven't done it in a long time ....

here ya go, the test i'm talking about is about half way down or so ... you'll see it ... this is a good article by a dedicated hobbyist :)

Low pH: Causes and Cures by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
 
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