Additional Qs on soft corals

travis32 · 02/22/2010, 11:01 AM

I hve some button polyps, hair mushrooms, purple mushrooms, and xenia.

I was told by the person I got them from that they don't require any special nutrients or care. (other than standard stuff like managing filtration, and water quality).

So, do these types of corals require additional calcium or other nutrients? They seem o.k. A couple of the hair mushcrooms shriveled up and disappeared. But there's so many of them on one rock it may simply have been a crowding issue. The rest look fine.

I just want to make sure I'm not starving anything..

Thanks!

thegrun · 02/22/2010, 11:12 AM

Regular water changes should provide all the chemical requirements of these corals. Regular feeding of the tank should handle the nutrients, so yes, you are good to go, no additional suplements are needed.

travis32 · 02/22/2010, 11:27 AM

Cool thanks. I have a household RO filtration system from Culligan. The pre and post carbon filters are up for replacement (annual replacement according to Culligant) Would I be better off holding off on water changes until those two filters are replaced, or do I go ahead?

The water tastes fine, at times, there is possibly a slight chlorine taste.. I'm having culligan come out to test the water and replace the filter cartridges this week..

I'm thinking it would be best to wait 'till I know the condition of the filtered water.

thegrun · 02/22/2010, 11:56 AM

I would wait, but you should get a TDS meter to monitor the water yourself. They do not cost much on ebay. Your water should also pass through a DI filter, RO by itself lets things get by that should not be in your tank, a TDS reading of less than 5 is what you are looking for. DI is not recommended as a regular drinking water, so you will need a seperate dispenser for the DI water.

travis32 · 02/22/2010, 12:58 PM

There are multiple filters,2 pre carbon filters, 1 post carbon filter, and the main RO membrain filter. So, 4 filters total.

I could probably find this somewhere, but, what is DI? I saw the list of metals and elements removed by the filters and it's around 95% to 98% of every element / metal that could be int he water. Is that 2 to 5 % trace elements too much?

travis32 · 02/22/2010, 01:00 PM

Forgot to mention that before the water goes through the RO filtration system, it is processed by a water softner. Removing most heavey metals (if not all) of them. Then the RO filtration filters out anything that got through the softner. I would think it'd be as good if not better than store bought filtered water because they most likely don't use softners in conjunction with their filters.

Depends on what DI does to the water though.

Sk8r · 02/22/2010, 01:02 PM

Your salt mix supplies trace elements, buffer, calcium, iodine, magnesium (probably): read the list of ingredients on your salt. Hence the water change requirement.
However, if you want good growth out of your softies, settle only for proper lighting and 'ocean water-like' parameters. I list the range in my sig. Especially watch alkalinity. And if you keep having to add buffer, watch your magnesium:

02/22/2010, 11:01 AM	#1
travis32 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: West Fargo, ND Posts: 2,161	Additional Qs on soft corals I hve some button polyps, hair mushrooms, purple mushrooms, and xenia. I was told by the person I got them from that they don't require any special nutrients or care. (other than standard stuff like managing filtration, and water quality). So, do these types of corals require additional calcium or other nutrients? They seem o.k. A couple of the hair mushcrooms shriveled up and disappeared. But there's so many of them on one rock it may simply have been a crowding issue. The rest look fine. I just want to make sure I'm not starving anything.. Thanks!

02/22/2010, 01:02 PM	#7
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Your salt mix supplies trace elements, buffer, calcium, iodine, magnesium (probably): read the list of ingredients on your salt. Hence the water change requirement. However, if you want good growth out of your softies, settle only for proper lighting and 'ocean water-like' parameters. I list the range in my sig. Especially watch alkalinity. And if you keep having to add buffer, watch your magnesium: __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

02/22/2010, 11:12 AM	#2
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	Regular water changes should provide all the chemical requirements of these corals. Regular feeding of the tank should handle the nutrients, so yes, you are good to go, no additional suplements are needed.

02/22/2010, 11:27 AM	#3
travis32 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: West Fargo, ND Posts: 2,161	Cool thanks. I have a household RO filtration system from Culligan. The pre and post carbon filters are up for replacement (annual replacement according to Culligant) Would I be better off holding off on water changes until those two filters are replaced, or do I go ahead? The water tastes fine, at times, there is possibly a slight chlorine taste.. I'm having culligan come out to test the water and replace the filter cartridges this week.. I'm thinking it would be best to wait 'till I know the condition of the filtered water.

02/22/2010, 11:56 AM	#4
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	I would wait, but you should get a TDS meter to monitor the water yourself. They do not cost much on ebay. Your water should also pass through a DI filter, RO by itself lets things get by that should not be in your tank, a TDS reading of less than 5 is what you are looking for. DI is not recommended as a regular drinking water, so you will need a seperate dispenser for the DI water.

02/22/2010, 12:58 PM	#5
travis32 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: West Fargo, ND Posts: 2,161	There are multiple filters,2 pre carbon filters, 1 post carbon filter, and the main RO membrain filter. So, 4 filters total. I could probably find this somewhere, but, what is DI? I saw the list of metals and elements removed by the filters and it's around 95% to 98% of every element / metal that could be int he water. Is that 2 to 5 % trace elements too much?

02/22/2010, 01:00 PM	#6
travis32 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: West Fargo, ND Posts: 2,161	Forgot to mention that before the water goes through the RO filtration system, it is processed by a water softner. Removing most heavey metals (if not all) of them. Then the RO filtration filters out anything that got through the softner. I would think it'd be as good if not better than store bought filtered water because they most likely don't use softners in conjunction with their filters. Depends on what DI does to the water though.