Calcium 400, Alk 12

[jejenkins]

Just got API testing kits for Calcium and DKH

 

Ca+ 400

DKH 12

 

The Alk is a little higher than what I see a desired.......do I need to do anything about it, or let it ride for a few days and see what happens.

BC14

Goby

Cleaner shrimp

30 min snails

20lbs LR

20lb LS

Cheato

Small colony of zoas (15 heads maybe)

One mushroom (hasn't split but growing)

 

Thanks

[tike]

Nope...you're good. What salt mix are you using?

[jejenkins]

Using instant ocean. About all we have available around here. I've thought of other types and just ordering larger quantities from F&S. I have been dosing about 1/2 the amount recommended of Kent Essential elements and Coral-Vite. Just purchased Nano Part A & B because of so many recommendations here and elsewhere. I probably will continue with IO for a bit with the Nano dosing and see how it pans out.

[disaster999]

i would stop dosing the alk and continue to dose calc. bring it up to around 450ppm

[jejenkins]

Thank you. That is kind of why I bought kent nano part a and b. Give a little more flexibility. I'll try just dosimg part a for a couple of days and see what happens. Sorry about all lower case. I'm respnding via cell phone, pain to switch screens for caps.

[bdare]

I would stop dosing all together. You don't have any hard corals in your tank that require Ca or Alk so there is no reason for you to keep your levels that high. Also why are you dosing trace elements for a such a small tank with so few inhabitants? Your regular water changes should be able to keep up just fine.

 

i would stop dosing the alk and continue to dose calc. bring it up to around 450ppm

 

Why? What's wrong with his Ca where it is?

[tike]

I would stop dosing all together. You don't have any hard corals in your tank that require Ca or Alk so there is no reason for you to keep your levels that high. Also why are you dosing trace elements for a such a small tank with so few inhabitants? Your regular water changes should be able to keep up just fine.

 

 

 

Why? What's wrong with his Ca where it is?

 

 

+1 no need to dose. Your animals aren't taking up calcium so you don't need to dose, just water changes.

[jejenkins]

Thanks for all the help. So, with just WCs I'll get enough of the trace elements for zoas and mushrooms? The nano part a and b also contain the mag, strot, etc.....trace elements. Honestly I want to continue to add to my aquarium and I was "practicing" dosing so to speak before I started investing in corals.

Do I ever need to worry about calcium if I don't get stonies? Do any of the other corals/inverts/plants etc benefit from Ca+?

As my tank matures and the population of polyps grow, what do you guys feel are essential "elements" to monitor and maintain.

Appreciate the input and I want to continue practicing so to speak in order to learn the particulars of my tank/methods/products, but don't want to waste time and money monitoring and dosing "nonessentials."

Jon

[bdare]

Thanks for all the help. So, with just WCs I'll get enough of the trace elements for zoas and mushrooms? The nano part a and b also contain the mag, strot, etc.....trace elements. Honestly I want to continue to add to my aquarium and I was "practicing" dosing so to speak before I started investing in corals.

Do I ever need to worry about calcium if I don't get stonies? Do any of the other corals/inverts/plants etc benefit from Ca+?

As my tank matures and the population of polyps grow, what do you guys feel are essential "elements" to monitor and maintain.

Appreciate the input and I want to continue practicing so to speak in order to learn the particulars of my tank/methods/products, but don't want to waste time and money monitoring and dosing "nonessentials."

Jon

 

You'll definitely get all the trace elements you need if you do weekly water changes. The problem is you can't really "practice" dosing. You really only need to dose... well... when you need to. You don't need to worry about Ca dosing unless you add stoney corals to your tank or you notice a substantial drop in between water changes. Corraline can consume a lot of Ca and Alk but you'll have to test to see how much your tank is consuming.

 

Like myself and others have stated... as long as you keep up with water changes you should be fine. Just keep a close eye on things. If something starts to go south THEN dose...

[jejenkins]

You'll definitely get all the trace elements you need if you do weekly water changes. The problem is you can't really "practice" dosing. You really only need to dose... well... when you need to. You don't need to worry about Ca dosing unless you add stoney corals to your tank or you notice a substantial drop in between water changes. Corraline can consume a lot of Ca and Alk but you'll have to test to see how much your tank is consuming.

 

Like myself and others have stated... as long as you keep up with water changes you should be fine. Just keep a close eye on things. If something starts to go south THEN dose...

 

Excellent. Thanks guys for the help. I doubt I'll ever get into the stoney corals, beyond my lighting and expertise. I do want to really get a strong presence of coraline, but with my tank being only 4 months old, it certainly is not "cosuming" too much. I am actually traveling today to SW store and be looking at some more corals to add. I am thinking about geting some ricordias, but just see what they have available. Appreciate all the help.

[The Propagator]

Oh yes you will ! we all said that in the beginning !

Just like " I'll never get a larger tank then x because I have no space for it.". 2 years later your in a 150 LOL!

It'll happen. You have no say in it. The corals call you !

[jejenkins]

Oh yes you will ! we all said that in the beginning !

Just like " I'll never get a larger tank then x because I have no space for it.". 2 years later your in a 150 LOL!

It'll happen. You have no say in it. The corals call you !

 

I'm scared.....I can hear them speaking too me already Yes wise one, propagator, you speak words so true.

 

That is exactly what my wife is afraid of. You know cause we got the SW tank for our "boys". It is in their bedroom. Plus she knows my personality. I am very particular about when doing something, doing it "by the book" and like to do the "ultimate" of whatever I'm doing. We had a serious FW setup before kiddos. I went a little "over the top".

Fortunately for our bank account, since having children, my priorities and desires have changed a bit. For example I have been an avid flyfisher for years, but I don't only fish, I build custom flyrods, spinning rods and baitcasters. I have a whole workshop for this. I even started, before the kiddos, building my own planing forms and gluers for building bamboo rods. But all to say, I have a nearly 5 year old, 3 year old and one on the way.......haven't built a rod or tied flies in about 4 years. The passion is still there, but my priorities of time managment have shifted for this season in life. (Haven't given up the duck/goose hunting though.......cause you know, it is something dad and the boys will do "together" in the future

 

All this documentary to say, the beauty of the reef tank is the rewards for the time invested. Initially, there is alot of setup time, maintenance, etc. but as the tank matures the few minutes a day of maintenance is palatable. But the rewards of sitting with boys and watching the tank, teaching them how to take care of things and instilling a sense of responsibility is invaluable. PLUS it's just feaking cool!

 

Yes.......I must admit that in my weakness of character, the stonies will likely win this battle in the future. Hey, at least I got this board to help me take this tank to the limit.

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING.