What’s going on here?

[srobertb]

As thorough as I can be-

120g AIO. Everything looks ok.

Parameters are controlled and Dosed by Neptune Apex with Trident. Red Sea A, B, and C (factory mixed).

Parameters are normally stable (Calcium 450-500, Alk 11, Magnesium 1400). Two days ago my Calcium shot up and is now sitting insanely high. It seems to somehow correlate to the Magnesium based on the graph.

I’ve tested with a Milwaukee test kit and confirmed it’s high. I recalibrated the Neptune Trident and now my Calcium is even higher.

Ive checked my AWC water, my RODI water, made sure my dosing containers are hooked up to the correct pumps. I’ve turned off dosing but can’t for the Alk (my Alk drops quickly) so I changed out the 5L jug to a fresh one just in case it had calcium in it for some reason.

Changes: I’ve made in the past 2 weeks: changed dosing containers to directly from the 5L jugs instead of dosing containers (10 days ago). Added 2 Tunze eco chic Refugium lights and removed the Neptune Refugium light (2 days ago), added some filter floss instead of a filter sock (2 days ago), cleaned my skimmer (and rinsed it well), cleaned my return pump, and changed out 10lbs of sand (Carib sea to Carib sea).

Is it possible that the calcium additive settled in the bottom of the back of my AIO and when I removed the pump and mucked about with the Refugium area (where it drips in) that I stirred up some calcium that was resting on the bottom?

it isn’t dropping. The only thing I see that’s odd to me is the magnesium and calcium seem to have inversely changed. The dip and spike that happened recently was the calibration (down to match the calibration solution then back up even higher.

thanks in advance,

 

[MnFish1]

The first thing I would say is - its a bad test (i.e. recheck it). Since you changed methods of dosing - it could be poorly mixed - or a bad batch as well.

PS - I doubt you could have CA >700 and an alkalinity>10 and a Mg <1300. without extreme precipitat9ions

 

[srobertb]

The first thing I would say is - its a bad test (i.e. recheck it). Since you changed methods of dosing - it could be poorly mixed - or a bad batch as well.

PS - I doubt you could have CA >700 and an alkalinity>10 and a Mg <1300. without extreme precipitat9ions

I checked with 2 different methods and calibrated the Trident. Even if both were bad, both being bad and still being within 5% of each other would be lottery-level bad luck.

I noted a little precipitation today but not epic-levels.

thanks though.

 

[jassermd]

This may sound like a strange question... how long have you had your Trident?
I ask b/c there is a cuvette in the Trident that can get all mucked up over time and needs cleaning. Also, you may want to check your sample line and ensure it's not blocked or has debris. Since you said you recalibrated, I'm guessing the sample line is clear...

The numbers really don't make much sense... and I'm surprised you don't have any precipitate given how high the alk and ca are...

 

[srobertb]

I like to resolve my posts in case someone as the same issue.

It looks like while fishing a power cord through I may have kinked my Trident sample line.

 

[jassermd]

I like to resolve my posts in case someone as the same issue.

It looks like while fishing a power cord through I may have kinked my Trident sample line.

Sometimes its the simplest things that throw us for a loop... Happy to hear that's all it was!