calcium test kits

daveedka

daveedka

Purple is the color of Royalty
Jan 30, 2004
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Columbus, ohio
Are they accurate enough to be wrth the money?
Will they work for freshwater?
I suspect some cacium defeciency, but don't want to buy a kit if it won't educate me.
Dave
 
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I'm dosing ~20ppm CaCl2 each week. If I don't, my java fern goes twisty and warped.

My pond snails still tend to go white and pitted over time which I thought was a lack of calcium. My MTS are unaffected.

I don't know anything about the calcium test kits though.
 
I'm skeptical of the accuracy of these tests. EDTA may preferentially chelate Ca++ over other metals, but it does still grab other metals, most notably Mg++. While I think that for a laboratory it would be easy enough to either work out some wet chemistry to interfere or block other metals, especially smaller ones, or to just buy a Ca++ detecting electrode I'm not certain how precise and accurate a hobby kit would be.

Have you tried asking your local water comission for the Ca/Mg ratio of your water, or just for typical average concentrations that you can then calculate a ratio from? Once you know the Ca/Mg ratio your GH test kit can approximate each concentration.
 
Hey Dave, I won't be able to give you my take on it for a couple weeks. Tax return should be here any day now and I'm ordering a Hagen Master Kit that includes a Ca test kit. I know my GH and have Mg from the water report so hopefully it will be close. I don't really need the Ca test but it will ease some curiosity I have. Don't know if you were thinking of something this cheap or something a little more $. The hagen Ca test alone is ~$8 (US) and Seachems Reef Ca is ~$20(US). Maybe you're thinking Lamotte? Hopefully you'll get a more concise answer before then! :idea2:
 
Good luck on that Hagen Master Kit. The last Phosphate test I got with the HMK was wonky as all get-out.
 
I actually went ahead and ordered a Seachem kit, if it doesn't help It will be a few bucks down the drain. I posted the thread while shopping and then did the compulsive thing before I got any response.

I'm dosing ~20ppm CaCl2 each week. If I don't, my java fern goes twisty and warped.
Click to expand...
My pond snails still tend to go white and pitted over time which I thought was a lack of calcium. My MTS are unaffected
Click to expand...

At least it Ain't just me. I get the twisty's pretty bad and am still having a tough time with annubias (go figure) I have been dosing some CaCl, but had not found a good dosing guideline yet (haven't extensively researched, but will) And therefore have been hesitant to dose much. I treat my change water with CaCo3, I have crushed coral in all of my filters, and have cuttlebone in every tank for the snails to graze. My ramshorns especially will erode out at about 1/2", my pond snails don't seem to have any trouble, but I haven't had any big ones for a while. My MTS's are all but gone from the cichlid tank, and I'm not seeing any babies in there at all. All of these issues add up to low Calcium. I am really just starting to look into this, and thought the test kit might help.

Have you tried asking your local water comission for the Ca/Mg ratio of your water, or just for typical average concentrations that you can then calculate a ratio from? Once you know the Ca/Mg ratio your GH test kit can approximate each concentration.
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I think the info is on their website, but haven't been there lately. I will check into that as well. I'm not at home to see what the GH is of my tank right now. but essentially our tap water has nothing in it. The last time I tested,
KH= 2
GH= 12-14 range
Ph = 7.6
These are tap water readings after setting out overnight. and it has been several weeks since I tested those numbers in particular. I will probably do some extensive research/testing this weekend, and since I went ahead and took the plunge on the test kit, I may run some accuracy comparisons to the water dept. numbers just to see if I'm in the range.
Dave
 
I have been dosing some CaCl, but had not found a good dosing guideline
Click to expand...

This was the million dollar question. I started at a few ppm per week and slowly increased until the java fern started growing straight, fast and produced adventitious roots. The new growth actually came on quite sudden but I do worry that maybe I'm on calcium overdrive.

Still, every week I pick out a few white empty pond snail shells that crumble in my fingers. It could be that the newer snails in my tank will be stronger since I've only been dosing calcium for about two months or less. My pH is 6.5 so maybe this is too acidic for them. My KH also stays at 3.5, higher than our tap, even though there's nothing in my tank that should be raising it. Now that I look back on it, could be the eco-complete, thinking about another thead.
 
I've actually got a similar problem and can't really make head or tail of it. I'm considering ordering some CaCl2 from Greg Watson when I order more traces and KNO3, but I'm hard pressed to really convince myself that there's a calcium shortage in my tank. Since our water is so soft (about 10-15ppm CaCO3) I have crushed coral in the filter and the KH is around 50ppm after a water change and will creep up to 75-100ppm. Although maybe I should do a more recent test, I haven't been testing manically for months and I am getting "the twisties" as Dave calls 'em. :D
 
This was the million dollar question. I started at a few ppm per week and slowly increased until the java fern started growing straight, fast and produced adventitious roots.
Click to expand...

How much CaCl = how many ppm's. this is one of the questions that spawned my interest in the test kit.
 
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