calcium and alkalinity

[mattsmith.dk]

Why do I have low calcuim 350 and high kh dkh 10.5 alkalinity 3.76. What does akalinity do for corals. I have been in the hobby for years and never have quite understood what calcuim mag strotuim iodine alkalinity do for corala please help.

 

[Ulta]

Here's a post I made a while back that you will like ;)

https://www.livingreefs.com/alkalinity-corals-grow-t25768.html

 

[noy]

Why do I have low calcuim 350 and high kh dkh 10.5 alkalinity 3.76. What does akalinity do for corals. I have been in the hobby for years and never have quite understood what calcuim mag strotuim iodine alkalinity do for corala please help.

1. Stony corals have calcium carbonate skeletons. (LPS, SPS - not soft corals).
2. To grow they need calcium + bicarbonate.
3. Normal tapwater or even RO/DI water has low calcium levels - so you need to supplement this by an additive. Levels below 400 hinder growth and anything much more than 450 does not add more to growth.
4. Alkalinity is a way of measuring the level of bicarbonate. Natural seawater has a level of 7-8 but in the aquairum we boost this to 9-12 to facilitate growth. Again - you will likely need an additive to get to 9+
5. Magnesium helps bicarbonate stablize in water (i.e. so you can maintain higher levels). Some organisms (plants and some invert) take in magnesium directly for growth.
6. Stony corals skeletons have stronium in it - so some people theorize that it must be a requirement for growth. Not everyone shares this view.
7. Some corals (not stony ones generally) have been known to take in iodine.

Most 2 part additives have Calcium/Magnesium/Stronium in 1 part and Alkaline solution in the 2nd part.

 

[mattsmith.dk]

Right now I am dosing iodine, strotium, mag, and a coral bright part a calcium and part b aklalinity buffer. But I have seen little improvment in coral growth. At ehat rate should lps corals grow at

 

[bjohanson1234]

Depends on many factors.
Type of LPS
Type of Lighting
Water quality
Etc

But remember, corals tend to show growth over months not days or weeks.

 

[BL1]

Right now I am dosing iodine, strotium, mag, and a coral bright part a calcium and part b aklalinity buffer. But I have seen little improvment in coral growth. At ehat rate should lps corals grow at

Are you running tests for all this stuff your dosing? You shouldn't be adding anything to the tank that you don't test for, too much of those additives could hinder your corals growth as well.

 

[noy]

Right now I am dosing iodine, strotium, mag, and a coral bright part a calcium and part b aklalinity buffer. But I have seen little improvment in coral growth. At ehat rate should lps corals grow at

My suggest is to stop dosing iodine, stronium and magnesium. Like BL1 says these can hinder growth - especially iodiine and magnesium. Get a magnesium test kit to see whether you really need to supplement your 2 part system.

Hard to say what rate LPS should grow at because there are so many varieties. My Acans take months to grow a head or 2. My lobo and trachy really haven't grown much since i got them (but they are rather large specimens). My blasto has really taken off probalby doubled in size in 4 months.

I would say in general they are probably slow growers (compared to SPS). Proper lighting and feeding supplements are probably the best factors to promote growth. Make sure you calcium is over 400 and dkh over 9 - those are the only 2 paramenters i measure regulaly. If you get a Mag kit - you levels should be around 1250-1350.

 

[mattsmith.dk]

I do test for everything I dose mag was low1260 two days ago. How often should I be testing.

 

[noy]

I do test for everything I dose mag was low1260 two days ago. How often should I be testing.

Once a week - i test mag, calcium and alk, (nitrates, phosphate probably every 2-3 weeks).
Before and after each water change - i test for calcium/alk. I do water change every 2 weeks (sometimes once a week if i added corals).
My system is pretty stable though.

Here is a couple of sites that are handy references for LPS/corals needs.

https://sites.google.com/a/asira.org/www2/caresheets

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