75g Upgrade

[Altpers0na]

i still think tums will do the trick... or a cuttle bone... or raw reactor media in the sump under a skimmer driven water fall...

my calcium levels are great w/ a cuttle bone, but admittedly thats w/ our birds...

 

[coralreefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11036067#post11036067 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lee_Bay
Two months into it and things are still okay..... except for the calcium levels. Even with water changes, I can't keep the ca level up and I can tell by looking at the corals. Not that they don't look healthy, they just don't look happy. Colors aren't as bright, no signs of new growth in that last couple of weeks.

Water changes aren't a great way to keep up with your calcium demand but what salt are you using? IO is low in calcium to begin with usually around 360-380. RC somewhere around 420. Oceanic runs 500+ but then you'll have problems with low alk :lol:

You could dose a 2 part supplement for now. I used the DIY version before I got the ca reactor. Still use it on the nanos.

i still think tums will do the trick... or a cuttle bone... or raw reactor media in the sump under a skimmer driven water fall...

Baking soda and driveway de-icer work fine

 

[Altpers0na]

somehow im more comfortable w/ tums than i am with driveway deicer...

 

[coralreefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11044090#post11044090 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Altpers0na
somehow im more comfortable w/ tums than i am with driveway deicer...

LOL there was a time I would have agreed with you. A few years ago Randy Holmes-Farley tested several different brands of de-icer to prove they weren't reef safe since some folks were using it. He was very surprised to find a few that were fine to use. Of course many were not. He also found dowflake/pealadow was equal to if not slightly better than many commercial hobby products. There are very few "experts" I trust in this hobby but Randy is one.

 

[Lee_Bay]

6 months in and going pretty well. I'll have to take some pics and post them this week. I have lots of SPS frags (mostly Acros) that have encrusted well. Got a Corallife Ca reactor and the levels are stable.
One thing that confuses me though, I mentioned that my frags have encrusted well, but they aren't showing much vertical growth, if any. The bases keep getting fatter though. Maybe I'm just being impatient. I'll wait longer and see if anything happens.

 

[coralreefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11889296#post11889296 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lee_Bay
One thing that confuses me though, I mentioned that my frags have encrusted well, but they aren't showing much vertical growth, if any. The bases keep getting fatter though. Maybe I'm just being impatient. I'll wait longer and see if anything happens.

I've always heard healthy frags generally encrust heavily before they start to grow upward.

 

[Lee_Bay]

Thanks Amy. I was reading in the SPS forum and there is a thread there, "Acros growing thick instead of long", where the concensus is high flow will attribute to this. From my reading here on RC, I was under the impression that as long as you weren't blasting the tissue from the skeleton that you couldn't have too much flow. I have unplugged two powerheads and will watch everything for a couple of weeks to see if this will help. If so, then by adjusting the flow in our tanks couldn't we help "design" our acros?? (short,fat or long skinny)

I'll post any findings if anyone is interested.

 

[Lee_Bay]

updated pics

updated pics

Here are some updated pics.

This is my favorite fish

This blasto is growing on me I think it's one of my favorite corals now. (ironically I think it was the first)

some cool zoos.

couple of acro frags

just a pic

 

[Lee_Bay]

A little update on the high flow = fat acros, lower flow =long acros. I'm a beleiver. With the lower flow in the tank, The green slimer almost immediately started to grow "up". The Chips Acro has signs of new growth as well as the others. The pink birdsnest has some new vertical sprouts too. I need to adjust my calcium reactor too. My calcium level has dropped to just under 400. I'd hate to get things finally going vertical, then not supply the calcium for them to do so.

Just wanted to post an update to this.