Calcium test lying to me?

[KookyNewky]

I have just tested my Calcium 2 times and cam out with Ca levels of 800+ mg/L. My pH is still running at 8.0-8.1 which suprised me because I always thought that excess Ca would mess up the pH.

The test is "SeaTest" by Instant Ocean. I tested distilled water for Ca and came up with 15mg/L. 15mg/L is the tests minimum result.

If you are familiar with the test it says to add droplets until the solution turns "pure" blue. The test never goes to a pure blue for me. It always seems purplish. Before you ask...I am not color blind either. It does however go pure blue with the distilled water after adding 1 droplet.

 

[Anonymous]

What is your Alkalinity?

A good "reasonableness" test is to mix up a fresh batch of saltwater and test it for Calcium.

You could also dilute your tank water with purified water 1:1 and test again to see how far above 800ppm your kit says the water is (double the results).

 

[KookyNewky]

I think my test is shot. I tested a freshly mixed Red Sea salt mix and came up with 600 mg/L at 1.021 and my tap water is coming up at 60 mg/L. I also tried the half and half thing and came up with the same 600mg/L. The kit says that it is only accurate to 500 mg/L. Maybe the test has an expiration that I am unaware of? Anyways I'm bringing a sample of my water to a LFS and having him run his tests on it.