Ping: Marc L.

[Mandarin333]

Hey Marc, I checked out your website and it was great. What a resource,
especially the sump designs. I was reading about your 55g and noticed that you
got a reading of 600ppm for calcium early on. I had always thought that
calcium started precipitating out of solution before it got that high. Anyway,
I was wondering which calcium test kit you use?

-M333

[Marc Levenson]

Hmm.... I don't believe I ever hit that high a number. You saw that on
my 55g page perhaps?

I'm a huge fan of Salifert. I had some other kit in a small plastic
case that came with the tank, and it was off by 100ppm! (lower)

When my new Salifert kit came in, the numbers were right were they were
in the past, so I tossed that erroneous kit. I can't remember the name
of it.

I'm glad my site helped you. :)

Marc

Mandarin333 wrote:

> Hey Marc, I checked out your website and it was great. What a resource,
> especially the sump designs. I was reading about your 55g and noticed that you
> got a reading of 600ppm for calcium early on. I had always thought that
> calcium started precipitating out of solution before it got that high. Anyway,
> I was wondering which calcium test kit you use?
>
> -M333

--
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[Boomer]

No, you can get it that high or even much higher, if the Alk is low or you dump in a bunch
of Calcium Chloride. In normal seawater it can get to over 800. You can also get it if you
raise your Alk and Ca proportionally. High pH also plays a roll in how high it will go as
does how much Mg. you have and what temperature you are at. It most systems, by far, it
is not an easy thing to do and you will just get a snowstorm


Here are some example of where precipitation starts at

pH = 8.2 pH = 8.2
Calcium = 410 ppm Calcium = ***820 ppm****
Alkalinity = 5.0 meq/L Alkalinity = 2.5 meq/L

pH = 8.0 pH = 8.7
Calcium = 410 ppm Calcium = 410 ppm
Alkalinity = 8.0 meq/L Alkalinity = 2.5 meq/L

pH = 8.45
Calcium = 410 ppm
Alkalinity = 4.2 meq/L



You can read more about it here if you like;

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-04/rhf/feature/index.htm

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2002/chem.htm

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Boomer

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"Mandarin333" > wrote in message
...
: Hey Marc, I checked out your website and it was great. What a resource,
: especially the sump designs. I was reading about your 55g and noticed that you
: got a reading of 600ppm for calcium early on. I had always thought that
: calcium started precipitating out of solution before it got that high. Anyway,
: I was wondering which calcium test kit you use?
:
: -M333