After taking a break for about the last two years from coral, I've decided that I want to get serious about it and start keeping SPS. I had all kinds of problems in the past getting my BRS 1.1ml/min dosing pumps tuned with two part, so I decided to make the leap and just buy a Ca reactor. I got it all set up and started dosing. Had the reactor set at a pH of 6.7 with an effulent drip rate of about 30ml/min.
I tested Alk/Ca and Mg before I started..
Alk: 9.24 dKH
Ca: 467 ppm
Mg: 1100 ppm
I let it run for about 4 days (probably shouldn't have let it go that long) then tested...
Alk: 13.78 dKH
Ca: 535 ppm
Mg: 1320 ppm (I actually hand dosed Mg to try to bring it up to around 1350 during this time)
When I noticed that Alk and Ca were so high, I turned off the CO2 in the reactor and decided to let things fall on their own. I currently have a very light LPS/SPS load. Just a small branch of hammer coral, some candy cane coral that is in pretty bad shape, and a fairly small monti cap.
Testing Alk daily for the next 7 days, I noticed the level slowly drop (which is what I had expected), but after about 4 days of a downward trend, it started to steadily increase over the next 4 days at which point I did a water change (~20%). After the water change the level was 11.42 dKH and now 2 days later it is 11.76 dKH.
During that whole time, the Ca level never dropped and actually slightly increased to 544ppm and then after the water change has gone off the scale to 600+ppm.
My Mg level is now 1240 ppm.
Any idea of what could be causing my levels to increase with the Ca reactor off (I still have water pumping through it, but the pH of the reactor is equal to the pH in the tank)?
Currently accepting LPS and SPS frag donations to soak up the Ca/Alk