calcum

Discussion in 'Say Hello!' started by tim owen, Oct 26, 2015.

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  1. tim owen

    tim owen Plankton

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    hi
    in my reef tank i have soft,lps,sps corals.i test the usual stuff every week.lately i have noticed that the calcium is staying at 450 it doesn't deplete at all,is this a problem as i have always thought that calcium is a skeleton builder.all the corals look ok with no problems does anyone have an answer for me.
    thanks
    tangman(tim).
     
    tim owen, Oct 26, 2015
    tim owen, Oct 26, 2015
    #1

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  2. Vinnyboombatz

    Vinnyboombatz Giant Squid

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    Did you test the accuracy of the kit with another? It is not unusual to get a bad kit.
     
    Vinnyboombatz, Oct 26, 2015
    Vinnyboombatz, Oct 26, 2015
    #2
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  3. Va Reef

    Va Reef Giant Squid

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    +1 If you have hard corals, your calcium should be decreasing.
     
    Va Reef, Oct 26, 2015
    Va Reef, Oct 26, 2015
    #3
  4. REEFerMADNESS88

    REEFerMADNESS88 Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    he raises a good question for us beginners. What is a good resource to figure out the exact calcium needs for different corals? Hard corals obviously require much higher levels than the softies, where would someone (me) find out what is needed for say some zoa's and what would be the best method of providing it?
     
    REEFerMADNESS88, Oct 26, 2015
    REEFerMADNESS88, Oct 26, 2015
    #4
  5. Va Reef

    Va Reef Giant Squid

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    Measure calcium every day for a week. Figure out about how much calcium you're losing daily, or do a weekly average.

    There are many ways to maintain calcium (and alkalinity, another key aspect for hard corals, along with magnesium and trace elements, arguably) from manually dosing to auto dosing to running a calcium reactor. If your calcium uptake is low, say 5-10ppm a week, manually dosing is usually the best bet. You can use which ever calcium supplement you like. I prefer anhydrous calcium.
     
    Va Reef, Oct 26, 2015
    Va Reef, Oct 26, 2015
    #5
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  6. REEFerMADNESS88

    REEFerMADNESS88 Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    so if im planning on just keeping some zoas and maybe a mushroom i would imagine calcium use would be in the lower range
     
    REEFerMADNESS88, Oct 26, 2015
    REEFerMADNESS88, Oct 26, 2015
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  7. Va Reef

    Va Reef Giant Squid

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    Your coralline algae will suck some up, but water changes should keep up with that IMO.
     
    Va Reef, Oct 26, 2015
    Va Reef, Oct 26, 2015
    #7
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  8. DSC reef

    DSC reef Giant Squid

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    Even if your doing zoas the corailline algae will deplete some calcium along with turbo snails if you have any. It won't be as much as a full blown reef tank with clams but it could be enough to cause an imbalance. Testing like VA said to see what your tank uses. Every tank is different and you would be suprised how the big 3 can fluctuate. I've been using ESV B-ionic, great results so far and the most stable my tank has been.
     
    DSC reef, Oct 28, 2015
    DSC reef, Oct 28, 2015
    #8
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  9. REEFerMADNESS88

    REEFerMADNESS88 Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    cool when it comes to be coral time ill keep that in mind
     
    REEFerMADNESS88, Oct 28, 2015
    REEFerMADNESS88, Oct 28, 2015
    #9
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  10. Sataly

    Sataly Coral Banded Shrimp

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    I've always been curious as to how you actually test your params. I've always just done water changes but I may end dosing soon. thanks for this
     
    Sataly, Oct 28, 2015
    Sataly, Oct 28, 2015
    #10
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