Kat's Ol' Max

[patback]

Time to swoop in on the rebound.. Yeah!

[owenj]

@Patback- $15 a pop eh? I guess I'm not too surprised since most shrimp tend to be pricy...

@Kat- well, I'm currently on the fence about getting Zoas/Palys so that's not a huge issue, but the food stealing thing might be. Thievery led to the purge of most of my nassarius snails

[Reef Casa]

Marc, what do you dose? and did you ever try KALK?

I used to dose I screwed a lot of things by doing it. yes it was kalk

everything was fine than I started listening to other people and it all went downhill from there

 

I do 25% water change every sunday

 

Dosing is virtually unavoidable if you have a good amount of organisms that rely on calcification and you want them to thrive/live...unless you do daily WCs or have constant flow-through from the ocean

 

If you just have a few calcify organisms, then WCs can keep up with the demand without dosing cal/alk.

 

 

my tank proves you wrong

lots of sps and calcifying species; water change are enough

Edited September 6, 2012 by marc3lo19

[LongPig]

my tank proves you wrong

lots of sps and calcifying species; water change are enough

+1

25% weekly water changes if you want SPS.

[Nano sapiens]

I used to dose I screwed a lot of things by doing it. yes it was kalk

everything was fine than I started listening to other people and it all went downhill from there

 

I do 25% water change every sunday

 

 

 

 

my tank proves you wrong

lots of sps and calcifying species; water change are enough

 

I think you know what I meant, but to clarify: Water changes, as performed by the typical reefer, are not enough to keep up with a very high stony coral load without dosing.

 

I mentioned that if you do daily WC's or have constant ocean input, sure you don't need dosing. Could also add if you do large/frequent WCs then you *can* keep up with demand.

 

Point is that most reef keepers don't do this due to time constraints, budget, or for other reasons.

 

It appears you can/do, so great

[metrokat]

Yay for water changes. Kristofer, you hear that?

He's done no water changes on hsi system for over 1 year. Zero.

[patback]

I have no idea what my calcium or alk levels are, but I keep my bigger than fist size clam happy, along with a decent amount of sps and Lps through water changes. It is annoying though, if I don't have time to do a water change, it weighs on me and bothers me a lot. I've ony done 10% in the past 2-3 weeks and I normally do atleast 3 times that weekly.

 

I'm also assuming calcium is a bit too high in my tank since everything grows better when I skip a water change for a week, but again, I don't even own test kits anymore.

[kgoldy]

Yay for water changes. Kristofer, you hear that?

He's done no water changes on hsi system for over 1 year 14 months + 1 day. Zero.

 

(ftfy)

 

Booyah! Kalk FTW!

 

 

Edited September 6, 2012 by kgoldy

[Nano sapiens]

Yay for water changes. Kristofer, you hear that?

He's done no water changes on hsi system for over 1 year. Zero.

 

I've sat on both sides of the fence...

 

In my 50g I went for a couple years without a WC. I just used 100% clear, saturated Kalkwasser as top-off...never tested for cal, alk, mag, etc. (just SG). Tank had more coralline than I could keep up with and the coral growth was sometimes out of control (especially the Mushies and Zoas!)

 

But with a Nano, I decided that a more disciplined approach might bring better results (or at least a neater tank).

Edited September 6, 2012 by Nano sapiens

[metrokat]

Good morning. Everybody seems to be in agreement here: what works for one person may not for the other.

Is there a discussion here or on RC about KALK in nanos? Systems of 50G or less that use KALK would be worth investigating to see what kinds of corals they house and the dosage they use.

 

The mancina, open brain coral, in my tank is back to being fluffy. Haven't seen Babette the frilly limpet since the sighting yesterday. Wonder where she hides. The underside of rocks in the caves I have are encrusted with orange sponges so she would blend in rather easily.

 

Also found a HUGE white sponge growing on plug of the pink birdsnest. And while the sponge was not touching the coral, I wonder if there was chemical warfare going on to piss the coral off. The bird has been quite slimy to touch.

I'm interested to learn more about how sponges grow and what systems can support them. Clearly mine can because I have them growing all over the back chambers of the tank also.

 

Anyone have any links?

[chrssprngs]

I drip Kalk for my top off on a 20.

[Nano sapiens]

I haven't run across a thread specific to Kalk and Nano tanks. I dose a mix of RO and saturated Kalkwasser in my ATOs, pre-determined by prior testing to see how much cal and alk I need to keep params stable.

[Deleted User 3]

I have a ton of sponges too but the only one close to anybody is one close to the clam/mollusk thing aka George.

[albertthiel]

I drip Kalk for my top off on a 20.

 

Posted a description of a DIY KW drip system I added to my 20 gallon this morning with pictures on my thread

 

Very simple and non-tech. Cost me less than $5.00

[metrokat]

John Maloney got back to me on the ID of the limpet I have. Babette seems to be very rare.

 

He could not find it in any of his books he says.

 

It might be

[metrokat]

And here it is identified as Lucapina Sowerbii http://www.jaxshells.org/7483.htm

 

Ron Shimek:

Fleshy limpets, Lucapina species, are commonly found on Caribbean rock, and there are several species of them. The largest are about the size of shield limpets, but many are smaller. They also have a mantle that extends up over the shell, but in this case, the mantle is brightly colored and ranges from yellow to red. These are keyhole limpets, and as such are probably omnivorous, but from the reports I have received, they don't seem to be eating the decorative livestock. Generally, they seem to be grazing on algae. Like the shield limpets, they are largely nocturnal and are generally out of sight and inactive during the day. When the mantle is retracted, they will be seen to have a small shell on their back and its center will be perforated with a hole. As with the shield limpets, they don't appear to reproduce in aquaria and generally only survive a few months.

 

From WetWebMedia

 

Lucapina spp. mostly hail from the Western Atlantic, from Florida all the way to Brazil, and the Caribbean. They seem to be omnivorous, mostly grazing microalgae as well as small sessile invertebrates from the rocks (sponges, hydroids, etc.). However, I have read about, and seen photos of, some individuals consuming coral tissue. It's not a given that this will happen with your individual, though, especially if you have a mature system with a lot of microalgae, etc., on which it can feed. Many hobbyists have kept these, in systems with corals, with no problems. Personally, I'd go with an innocent until proven guilty theory and leave in place until/unless I saw damage.

 

I drip Kalk for my top off on a 20.

You have a drip ATO?

[metrokat]

Water test results

 

Calcium 350

dKh 6.1

Added 5ml of part B Alkalinity supplement

 

Water change planned for today

[brad908]

I put like 5-6 teaspoons of Kalk in my 5 gallon top off bucket. I usually need to put 2-3 cups a day in.

 

I've never tested my water, but everything looks great and is growing fast.

 

17 gallon tank.

Edited September 6, 2012 by brad908

[Looselyhuman]

Water test results

 

Calcium 350

dKh 6.1

Added 5ml of part B Alkalinity supplement

 

Water change planned for today

 

What is your tank doing to that fressh balanced water Kat?

 

Why not both parts? Your Ca is also low.

[MrAnderson]

when are you gonna just let your tank stabilize, long-term?

 

this is all much more complicated than it needs to be.

 

your target should be long-term stabilization of Ca/CO3, not a specific number. corals have molecular mechanisms for intra/intercellular transport of both calcium and carbonate for integration into their growing skeletons, and these mechanisms operate in a concentration-dependent manner. if your alk/Ca numbers are constantly fluctuating, your corals will be expending energy to regulate these transport proteins rather than using that energy for growth.

 

there's only so much money (energy) in the bank. don't make your corals spend it on constantly adjusting to changing water chemistry.

 

plus, i'm pretty sure i warned you about kalk. unless you can keep everything constant, long-term, it's counterproductive.

[chrssprngs]

You have a drip ATO?

 

 

Yes I do. Keeps my salinity constant and doesn't dump Kalk in batches like an ATO does. Drip, pause, Drip, pause, Drip, pause.....Ya gotta have rhythm.

[chrssprngs]

when are you gonna just let your tank stabilize, long-term?

 

this is all much more complicated than it needs to be.

 

your target should be long-term stabilization of Ca/CO3, not a specific number. corals have molecular mechanisms for intra/intercellular transport of both calcium and carbonate for integration into their growing skeletons, and these mechanisms operate in a concentration-dependent manner. if your alk/Ca numbers are constantly fluctuating, your corals will be expending energy to regulate these transport proteins rather than using that energy for growth.

 

there's only so much money (energy) in the bank. don't make your corals spend it on constantly adjusting to changing water chemistry.

 

plus, i'm pretty sure i warned you about kalk. unless you can keep everything constant, long-term, it's counterproductive.

 

So you are saying that a constant Ca/CO3 number that may be on the low side is better than a fluctuating Ca/CO3 number that bounces up and down that may average out to an "ideal" target number? IME this works well. Of course, ideally that balance would be at the levels you want, but maybe the chase for perfection is coming at a cost that contradicts what you are trying to achieve. Thanks Mr. A.

[metrokat]

What is your tank doing to that fressh balanced water Kat?

Why not both parts? Your Ca is also low.

Waiting 1 hour to dose part A. I thought to start with part B since alk was falling much faster than calcium.

 

when are you gonna just let your tank stabilize, long-term?

 

this is all much more complicated than it needs to be.

 

your target should be long-term stabilization of Ca/CO3, not a specific number. corals have molecular mechanisms for intra/intercellular transport of both calcium and carbonate for integration into their growing skeletons, and these mechanisms operate in a concentration-dependent manner. if your alk/Ca numbers are constantly fluctuating, your corals will be expending energy to regulate these transport proteins rather than using that energy for growth.

 

there's only so much money (energy) in the bank. don't make your corals spend it on constantly adjusting to changing water chemistry.

 

plus, i'm pretty sure i warned you about kalk. unless you can keep everything constant, long-term, it's counterproductive.

 

With waterchanges every 10 days calcium drops to the 200 range. I'm trying to do water changes every other day to keep it up. Not going to touch KALK till I can get the tank to some stability.

 

Fresh mix water was: Cal 500 dkh 9.3 Changed the water on Tuesday.

Todays values are Cal 350, dKH 6.1

[chrssprngs]

The most important word that any reefkeeper should always fall back on is "stability". Corals have an amazing ability to handle different parameters, within reason, as long as the parameters are constant.

 

Granted, I don't have a tank full of high end SPS and dealing with coloring issues.

[jedimasterben]

when are you gonna just let your tank stabilize, long-term?

 

this is all much more complicated than it needs to be.

 

your target should be long-term stabilization of Ca/CO3, not a specific number. corals have molecular mechanisms for intra/intercellular transport of both calcium and carbonate for integration into their growing skeletons, and these mechanisms operate in a concentration-dependent manner. if your alk/Ca numbers are constantly fluctuating, your corals will be expending energy to regulate these transport proteins rather than using that energy for growth.

 

there's only so much money (energy) in the bank. don't make your corals spend it on constantly adjusting to changing water chemistry.

 

plus, i'm pretty sure i warned you about kalk. unless you can keep everything constant, long-term, it's counterproductive.

Cue swoon thud-ing.