Coral growth

[sponger0]

Ok so Ive gotten to the point where Im extremely happy with the corals Ive got. So Now I wanna see them grow. Ive seen sefinately some growth but I would like to see if there Is anything I can do to make them grow better. Im beginning to watch my calcium levels, so currently these are my parms:

pH - 8.2

Am - 0

Ni - 0

Na - 0

kH - 13

Ca - 320

Mg - 1100



My stock list is as follows: 9 types of zoas, 3 types of polpys, anthelia, xenia, ricordea, 2 mushroom, torch coral, frogspawn, favia, and cynarina.



And any additional words of advice would be grateful

I have to say Im addicted. Someone help me

[Curious George]

Funny, I have just about the same coral list in my tank. I never thought calcium was crucial in a softie tank--or should I say as important as SPS. I would assume calcium is important for the LPS (Frogspawn and Torch) in building the skeletal base. I use T5 lighting and have had ok results. What kind of lighting do you have and how big is your aquarium?

and 0 Nitrates?---I always have some. As it creeps up, it is a good indicator for me to do a water chage.

[sponger0]

Nitrates never been an issue. I never cycled and tanks has been running for two months now.

Its a biocube 29 and just using stock lighting

[thebkramer]

Please take a look at this:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

IMO.. your alk is too high, your Calcium and Mag are low.. where is your salinity??
out of curiousity.. what salt mix are you using?? oh.. and temp??

[yeloowtang]

+1 on what thebkramer said!!!!

alk 8-9 is where i think it should be ,11 max
cal 380 minimum and 420 best
mag 1350 is the sweet spot
ph is good at 8.2

salinity .026 or 35 pts is where it should be !!!

lps and sps are the corals you will most likely see grow,the zoas,rics slower,
xenia could go mad when it starts multiplying
shrooms can take off fast when they decide to...

as for growth itself !!! stonies are the ones you will get to see grow..

steff

[sponger0]

Ok now whats the remedy for too high kH? Water changes?

[SkullV]

Are you dosing at all? What kind of test kit are you using? If it is API I bet your dkH is somewhere closer to 10-11. the API kits are worthless for anything but ammonia, nitrite, nitrate.

[spieszak]

kind of a side note, since I'm not commenting on your params... but its hard to see growth in the tank you look at every day.. Take a picture once a month, and "judge" your growth from that not memory....You may (or may not) be surprised at your growth rate.. just MHO...

[Sport507]

Originally Posted by yeloowtang

+1 on what thebkramer said!!!!

alk 8-9 is where i think it should be ,11 max
cal 380 minimum and 420 best
mag 1350 is the sweet spot
ph is good at 8.2

salinity .026 or 35 pts is where it should be !!!

lps and sps are the corals you will most likely see grow,the zoas,rics slower,
xenia could go mad when it starts multiplying
shrooms can take off fast when they decide to...

as for growth itself !!! stonies are the ones you will get to see grow..

steff

+2

You will not have proper coral growth without the calcium above 400, 420ppm is the sweet spot. The cal. will not stay stable though, unless the Mag. is 1300 or above, 1320-1350ppm is the sweet spot. Once you get those in inline, the Alk will come down on it's own.

So get the mag. in place, then the cal. and alk. will correct itself.