Maybe this is a stupid question but can someone help

[reeffreak9]

My calcium levels are at 375 and I need to raise it. I was told to put a whole cup in there at one time.I have a 30 gallon tank. If I do this will it harm anything? Can you over dose with calcium? Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[saleen00814]

i know you can over dose with cal.. but since im starting my first reef tank thats about all i know. but here is a bump for ya.

 

[getwood65]

375 is not that bad-don't do anything drastic.a whole cup of what?if you are useing 2-part-just double up the recommended amount every other night and continue testing untill you get up to around 430 or 440 and then continue doseing recommended amount-if your calcium keeps dropping just increase your level slightly untill it maintains your level.anything in the 400 to 450 range is acceptable-if you don't have any stoney corals 375 up is also fine.

 

[reeffreak9]

I do have sps and am not able to get the polyps to come out. Thats why I tested my calcium and it was low. I just want to make sure I dont do anything to hurt anything.

 

[jsl6v8]

I had bad calcium for a long time before I knew how to test it but my frags looked fine, so the polyps not coming out might be something different. I know that I dose like 5 ml of must stuff for my 30 gal so a cup sounds like a ton to me but I would bet my family jewels that you use something different than me.

 

[markandkristen]

everything i have read about sps is doing things slow. i would dose to what the manufacture says and bring it up slowly. 375 is not bad in my opinion i think anything above 400 is good. i just started sps a while back and the guy i got them from kept stressing dont do anything fast. and he had alot of colonies. thats just my opinion. i agree if they arent coming out i would check other parimeters etc.

 

[Reefworkschris]

Test your alkalinity also....should be about 180 dkh. More than likely if you can't keep your calcium up it's because alkalinity is low. Use DKH buffer to get it under control and dose your two part as needed.

 

[jsl6v8]

the stuff I use says your calc should be around 400 and 425 I keep mine around 430 if I can and my alk is around 8.5-9 (some different scale ppl use like 3 different scales for that) But do stuff slow do it to fast and your like to stress out and kill stuff.

 

[hexedagain]

Re: Maybe this is a stupid question but can someone help

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9711566#post9711566 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reeffreak9
My calcium levels are at 375 and I need to raise it. I was told to put a whole cup in there at one time.I have a 30 gallon tank. If I do this will it harm anything? Can you over dose with calcium? Thank you in advance for any help.

Let me guess who told you to add a cup....
or do I even need to?

 

[chrisstie]

Don't add a whole cup! There's a gentle chemical balance in your tank between alkalinity (KH) calcium and magnesium, the first two of which correlate very strongly to the pH in your tank.

If you add too much of one you can create a big imbalance and drop the pH to dangerously low levels.. the living critters inside your tankr eally aren't built for that sort of thing.

The best advice I can give is to test and follow the directions on whatever you plan to dose- or at least use them as a guideline to adjust your levels where you want them to be.

If I want just my Ca up ? I add just a little at a time.. Once a day maybe 5ml so i dont upset things but monitor the others carefully

If you're keeping SPS magnesium shouldn't be overlooked. If you keep that one in check, the other two balance very well and over time you get used to juggling and you and your tank will fit into a routine.

I hope this helps - also if we can help more let us know what "it" is that you would put in your tank so we know if its something we can try to lend our knowledge about too.. there are a lot of products, mixtures, and homegrown solutions out there and its certainly not easy to find what works for your tank and what you like!

 

[reeffreak9]

I am using Kent Marine part a and b. I have checked my other parameters and they are fine. I just cant get the polyps back out. I buy them in the store and they are all fuzzy and pretty and then I put them in the tank and they wont open back up. By the way no hexedagain you dont need to guess, he's my neighbor.

 

[chrisstie]

What kind of lighting and flow do you have on this tank? How do you acclimate the corals to get them into your tank? Hows everything else doing, looking okay and opened up well? What species in specific are you referring to? Are you feeding them anything?

I know its a lot of questions but sometimes answering them can troubleshoot a lot! My polyp extension varies throughout the day as well as with whats in my water. If I feed cyclopeez or coral vibrance everything stretches wayyyy out. I also have a millepora that seems to get doubly hairy once the lights go out (not sure what its trying to tell me!)

hopefully this will help get the ball rolling toward some sort of answer

 

[reeffreak9]

I am feeding them exactly the same 2 things. I have a 175 mh with 2 65 w pc's. I have 2 maxi jet 400. As far as the frags I know a few of them. Blue tort, Tri color stag, Milli. Those are the only ones I know the names of. I know I should know them but I buy what I like and dont really pay to much attention to the names. By the way the milli and the stag are the only ones out of 10 that the polyps are out on. Funny you said that about your milli, after the lights go out the polyps on all of them actually come out a little.

 

[reeffreak9]

Sorry missed a couple questions. I usually just float the frags and everything else in the tank is blowing up. I have gsp, zoo's and ric's. They all look great.

 

[jsl6v8]

hmm with that kind of lighting I doubt thats your problem, I wonder about your alk and phosphates but if all perams are fine maybe its a flow or light thing are things getting enough light/to much to much flow/not enough unfortunately I can't tell you how to determine that, maybe someone else has an idea.

 

[chrisstie]

Hmm for a 30 gal that sounds like it should be sufficient. I'm assuming you've already tested for nitrates and phosphates and what not?

Sometimes there can be allelopathy if you have soft corals too close to SPS but i wouldn't think it would affect everything on a broad scale. . . You'd probably see some degredation in the SPS not just lack of polyp extension.

Its good you buy what you like, but some species are more hairy than others like the millies I have one in my tank that I dont know what it is. Guessing some kind of acropora but I don't really know.. it only has large extension on the tips but the rest stay tiny.. but i have a big pink milly that is hairy like my cat.. (well not that hairy but you'd almost think you could touch it and it would feel soft like that)

Have any pictures to better show the extension? also how long have they been in the tank?

When I acclimate I tend to float for 20 mins and then drip until the water at least doubles in volume from the original. If it came from a successful tank I doubt the parameters are too too off but I like to do everything I can to help the coral feel more comfortable when going into the new tank.

Not sure what to tell you failing all that Hopefully some folks with more experience can chime in - but as far as your two parts go just follow the directions and test often until the parameters are where you want them to be and you should be okay

 

[reeffreak9]

The softies are not near the sps I have them each seperated from everything else including each other. I have tested the nitrates and phosphates and they are fine. I dont have a way to take pic's unless hexedagain can bring his camera over. It wont show the extention though as there is none. Some have been in the tank for over a month and some are just in a week. I got most of them from SITC so I know the water in the tank I bought them from was fine. They dont seem to be degrading though, They look like if you picked up the frag and the polyps retracted. They still have all the color and a couple have gotten bigger.

 

[hexedagain]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9713839#post9713839 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reeffreak9
The softies are not near the sps I have them each seperated from everything else including each other. I have tested the nitrates and phosphates and they are fine. I dont have a way to take pic's unless hexedagain can bring his camera over. It wont show the extention though as there is none. Some have been in the tank for over a month and some are just in a week. I got most of them from SITC so I know the water in the tank I bought them from was fine. They dont seem to be degrading though, They look like if you picked up the frag and the polyps retracted. They still have all the color and a couple have gotten bigger.

I can do that. I don't know when , but I can do that.
I still think you need more flow. I am not sure how much the two maxi 400's give you, but the more flow I give my sps, the better polyp extension I get. I blast them with flow.
I think you should pick a frag, and put it in my tank for a little while. We can see what happens with the extension on it.
What do you feed, and how often?

 

[jsl6v8]

yeah my next guess was pests or something but if you get them from SITC they wouldn't have them unless it was already in your tank. But I really know next to jack about that kind of thing.

I'm going to go ahead and put my vote in for flow.

 

[reeffreak9]

I am feeding them coral vibrance( the sample Franchesca gave me sat.) as well as cyclopeez and marine snow. every 2 to 3 days.