Jahkaya Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 I have and Acro Millepora that has been growing and encrusting fine. For the Past Month I have been dosing my normal schedule of B-Ionic. I previously tested this schedule for 3 weeks to ensure all was stable. For the past six week I dosed and did not test. I tested and CA was at 370 and Alk(not DKH) was at 6-7. I began to test again as I noticed some lack of coloration in my corals. Will the Low Alk cause a bit of tissue loss? I still have polyp extension, ect, but as all other corals are fine I think that this may be the problem. Any Ideas? Link to comment
birdman204 Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 It sounds like the amount of b-ionic you are dosing is not able to keep up with system demand. Are you already at max daily dose? Link to comment
onthefly Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 Am I wrong......but an Alk of 6-7ppm is High, not low....NSW is 2.9ppm! Link to comment
birdman204 Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 You are right. Here's what happens. Only so many dissolved ions can take up the space. if your CA is low, then your ALK is gonna be high ( most of the time ). I have not had any sucess with 2 part additives though so others may have some better insight Link to comment
Crakeur Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 that's the problem I had with b-ionic. stopped testing and the levels went nuts on me. Link to comment
Jahkaya Posted January 19, 2004 Author Share Posted January 19, 2004 It was the DKH of 7 then. I feel stupid. My Alk/DHK was low. I like to keep it at 10-11. No Max Daily dose. I did the max for a week to get the levels at 11 DKH, and 440 CA. Then for the next two weeks I did the half the dosage on a daily basis and kept it at 10-11 and 420-450. After this I stopped testing. The only thing I could think of is that for a period of six days it only got dosed twice at half strength. I was on vacation and had an experienced reefer sit my tank. He was only able to get there every two days. He topped off and dosed, but that was it. I resumed standard dosing when I got back. I did have some decent growth this last month and have 16-17 frags and two 3-4" clams. I guess I need to just test weekly and up the dosage. But will the low Alk, cause slight tissue loss? This has been very slow over the past two weeks. Link to comment
birdman204 Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 The skeletal structure may have a hard time forming, if that's what you are thinking, but I dunno about actual loss. Sounds like you should be dripping kalk as topoff. Link to comment
Jahkaya Posted January 28, 2004 Author Share Posted January 28, 2004 It was temperature. I slapped a 200 watt heater and it stays locked in at 79 24x7. Tissue loss and bleaching has stopped. Link to comment
Korbin Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 I didn't see anything describing the tissue loss you are talking about. Were your corals RTN-ing? If it was your heater, what was wrong with it before? Too cold? Link to comment
Jahkaya Posted February 4, 2004 Author Share Posted February 4, 2004 Korbin: Just a millepora had RTN. The rest just bleached slightly. I wouldn't say it was horribly cold, it just fluctuated too much. It got down to 72-73 at night and back up to 78-80 during the day. After a few days of this I am sure all were stressed. The Mille in Question is now toast except for a small peice that I was able to frag. I think the corals would have been fine at a range of 72-75 max, but the exra five degrees every night just put it over the edge. I have had alot of success with Bionic so far. The key is testing and consistency. I have another mille that is now growing and encrusting well. The new 10k xm bulb that is now burned in seems to work nicely. If Bionic doesn't work for you guys what do you use for CA/ALK demanding tanks, Aside from Kalk and CA reactors. Link to comment
Korbin Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 Kent turbo calcium and superbuffer. turbo calcium = calcium chloride superbuffer = 6:1 ratio of baking:washing soda. (Or is it washing:baking soda? I dunno) They are stronger than Bionic, I think. Link to comment
birdman204 Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 Jah , kalk topoff and alk buffer once a week(at least that is how often right now... still in the process of testing how often to get a set schedule). Link to comment
Jahkaya Posted February 10, 2004 Author Share Posted February 10, 2004 Something in my tank is using Alk faster than CA ( or so my test kits say) After a week of very consistent dosing of equal parts my CA is now at 420 (up from 350) , but the DKH is only just barely 8 (up from 6-7). I have heard that the Low Alk could also be the reason for the Diatom like hair algae (brown and nasty) as well as the hair growing only on the GLASS. It is just wierd. The tank is approaching the 5-6 month mark and should be past the algae stage. Keep in mind there are no fish, decent 24x7 skimming and bi-monthly water changes. I have also used Fully cured rock covered in coralline. Accounting for all of the above the only thing I can think that would cause lack of good coloration in the corals is the lack of alk. The only good thing is that I am using a two part so that I can always up the alk if need be. What do you guys think. Can low alk cause algea breakouts? Link to comment
birdman204 Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 I DUNNO ABOUT THAT, BUT i AM SURE YOU KNWO THIS. ca AND alk ARE DIRECTLY RELATED IN THAT THEY ARE BOTH DISSOVLED ORGANIC MATERIELS.. yOU CAN ONLY HAVE SO MUCH OF THEM IN ANY GIVEN SPACE.... WHEN ca GOES UP , aLK GOES DOWN , AND VICE, VERSA... TRY ADDING AN ALK BUFFER WEEKLY IN ADDITION TO YOUR B-IONIC DOSING.. i HAVE A JAR IF YOU WANNA COME BY AND PICK UP ENOUGH JUST TO TEST AND SEE. pm IF YOU WANT..... DO YOU THINK YOU STILL WANNA COME GET THOSE FRAGS MAYBE TOO? ONLY THE DIGI LEFT.... Link to comment
Jahkaya Posted February 11, 2004 Author Share Posted February 11, 2004 Bird, I have digi coming out my ears, but I always welcome more. I have a peice that I can trade if you like. Last night I double dosed the Alk portion of B-ionic. I did more than the max recommended dosage and the water turned cloudy. There was no reaction in the corals to the cloudyness. This morning however (I imagine when the water levels evened out) The corals had poylp extension like never before. Bird are you feeling angry in your posts? You seem to be yelling today. Link to comment
birdman204 Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 lol. sorry jah, here at work caps are required, sometimes i post away w/o looking.. ask 'nerd.... Umm the cloudiness was the reaction between the alk and the available ca in the water.. remember the dissolved solids post.. basically they are eracting with each other until levels are balanced again.. do some testing tonight and see which part was brought out of solution. Link to comment
Reefmaniac Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 That calcium level that was posted is WAY too low. Natural seawater has calcium of 410. You want to try and keep your calcium at least that high. Rapid growth of corals or coraline algae can cause the calcium level to drop. Also, if your alkalinity gets too high (above 14 or so) you will precipitate calcium out of solution. So, watch that as you increase your levels. Link to comment
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