SPS without Supplements.

[chefrt]

I have a question to the all expert, can SPS survive and grow with out dosing any supplements like calcium or anything. Because i wanted to keep SPS and my supplement will be weekly 10% change and the water will be natural saltwater taken from the sea. This water taken from surround the reef that emerge when low tide, it take 2 hour to reach there. Always take when high tide.

 

[cdbdis]

I believe you'll be able to start out w/o any supplementation if you're doing your waterchanges as you say. However, as your frags begin to grow into small colonies, it will be all but impossible to keep up with the high Ca demands.

 

[anderson99]

I agree with cdbdis. Eventually you will need to supplement with CA, ALK, and possibly MG as your corals grow.

 

[Thairun]

I agree with cdbdis. Eventually you will need to supplement with CA, ALK, and possibly MG as your corals grow.

+1...
that is what I experience keeping sps with NSW in 2 yrs those days, from small colonies with alot of coralline algae on rocks. Lately, in a day withoutout realising my cal reactor short of co2 supply, the cal dropped drastically from 420 to 370ppm. Mg from 4100 to 3500ppm.

 

[chefrt]

I believe you'll be able to start out w/o any supplementation if you're doing your waterchanges as you say. However, as your frags begin to grow into small colonies, it will be all but impossible to keep up with the high Ca demands.

It is possible to keep SPS without supplement if still as frags.

What about easy way to supplements the coral, any ideas. I think i will start first without supplements and later will start to supplement the tank with Ca.

What about simple cal reactor, any idea or any good with it, and how about cal powder, any particular good brand and how to add on to the tank.

 

[reefsahoy]

imo the easiest way is to use a ca reactor. if you set it right it will add ca and alk in the right proportions. then use a kalk reactor to add kalkwasser, strontium, and magnesium by using brightwells kalkwasser+. This will take care of the big 4 , ca, alk, mag, and stontium. The other way is to use dose manually or automatically using a dosing pump.

 

[cham]

imo the easiest way is to use a ca reactor. if you set it right it will add ca and alk in the right proportions. then use a kalk reactor to add kalkwasser, strontium, and magnesium by using brightwells kalkwasser+. This will take care of the big 4 , ca, alk, mag, and stontium. The other way is to use dose manually or automatically using a dosing pump.

I love kalkwasser but its been shown that kalk precipitates Mg. Also, everyday kalk contains both mg and sr naturally. Save your cash and buy the bulkreef supply stuff.

 

[vegaskid11]

A fully stocked sps reef would require like 75-100 percent daily water changes to keep up with alk.calc demands.

 

[Maxi]

Over time, the disaster will strike. I learned the hardway, and trying to color up these corals is taking me a while.

 

[luv4qt1004]

do u guys recommend dosing 2 part or calcium reactor?

 

[joshrules123456]

I personally just started using the bright well kalk +2 just to give it a try. I wanted to use it a year and a half ago when I started dripping kalk, but I was scared away because alot of people said the mg just precipitates out of it. Using regular kalk, and when I had the money to test mg every couple days, I noticed no added stability in the mg department. Ive been using kalk+2 for about 2 weeks now, Ive been doing water changes with oceanic salt for mg dosing every 2 weeks due to my financial situation. for the last couple months as I burned up my last mg test kit, I noticed color differences in my acros due to mg deficiancy, witch is how I judge if I need mg right now, and in 2 weeks I see the change and use the oceanic salt to correct it. Now that ive been using the kalk+2, the apparent bi weekly mg deficancy seems to be a thing of the past, and I might change to monthly water changes if this keeps up. They use it at one of my lfs's and the owner said he's used it for 2 years now and vs regular kalk, it cuts his need to dose mg. in about half, not exactly the perfect ratio that the packaging promises, but there is definatly a significant increase in mg stability when using it. adding to that the fact that its only $2 more a lb. on average, and in my situation it nearly eliminates my need for additional mg. and if I was still testing for it, it would cut my need to test in nearly half (would save about $15 every month and a half plus the cost of mg supplement) I think Im gonna stick with it.

 

[joshsamsj]

i dose two part and i have had good luck with this method

 

[luvdiving]

I also dose 2 part via dosing pump and its simple to adjust dosage when need be....

 

[Rodrigo_BG]

While they are small frags it will be possible, but as soon as they start to grow ca & alk demand will increase also and you will not be able to keep ca & alk leves just with 10% wc.

 

[chefrt]

imo the easiest way is to use a ca reactor. if you set it right it will add ca and alk in the right proportions. then use a kalk reactor to add kalkwasser, strontium, and magnesium by using brightwells kalkwasser+. This will take care of the big 4 , ca, alk, mag, and stontium. The other way is to use dose manually or automatically using a dosing pump.

Do you dose both ca and kalk together or only one of them or one at the time.

I love kalkwasser but its been shown that kalk precipitates Mg. Also, everyday kalk contains both mg and sr naturally. Save your cash and buy the bulkreef supply stuff.

How about you, only kalk dose?

I personally just started using the bright well kalk +2 just to give it a try. I wanted to use it a year and a half ago when I started dripping kalk, but I was scared away because alot of people said the mg just precipitates out of it. Using regular kalk, and when I had the money to test mg every couple days, I noticed no added stability in the mg department. Ive been using kalk+2 for about 2 weeks now, Ive been doing water changes with oceanic salt for mg dosing every 2 weeks due to my financial situation. for the last couple months as I burned up my last mg test kit, I noticed color differences in my acros due to mg deficiancy, witch is how I judge if I need mg right now, and in 2 weeks I see the change and use the oceanic salt to correct it. Now that ive been using the kalk+2, the apparent bi weekly mg deficancy seems to be a thing of the past, and I might change to monthly water changes if this keeps up. They use it at one of my lfs's and the owner said he's used it for 2 years now and vs regular kalk, it cuts his need to dose mg. in about half, not exactly the perfect ratio that the packaging promises, but there is definatly a significant increase in mg stability when using it. adding to that the fact that its only $2 more a lb. on average, and in my situation it nearly eliminates my need for additional mg. and if I was still testing for it, it would cut my need to test in nearly half (would save about $15 every month and a half plus the cost of mg supplement) I think Im gonna stick with it.

And you also kalk dose without ca.

 

[joshrules123456]

yup, the calcium demand of my tank is just slightly more than my kalk recipie, It drops off slowly over a period of weeks, and I correct it with a 10% water change using the oceanic salt witch test at like 560ppm. I would say my calcium floats between 400 and 460, with the kalk and water change routine, it never drops below 400, and the difference is spread out over a couple weeks.

 

[cham]

How about you, only kalk dose?

I actually dose both two part through automated pumps and kalk via a kalk reactor. My two part system can support my tank but like others I have noticed a positive responce in my corals from Kalk. I know the kalk does precipitate the mg (only from the kalk solution, not your tank) but whatever it does have my corals like it. Might be the stronium, I know that kalk naturally has Sr and it typically does not precipitate the Sr (or very little of it).

 

[chefrt]

The reason I ask about supplements"¦.
Just to let you all know in my place there is no more LFS selling marine fish or coral. I start my saltwater tank in 2004, that time there are 3 shops selling marine fish, but since last 2 year 1 shop stop selling and start this year all shop stop selling due not many people keep marine fish, and what there have is all old stock to be finish it and most of the stock from China (the supplements item)
For the past year I mostly keep soft and LPS coral, which is very successfully. Until now I have 3 tanks.
My plan to let go all 3 tanks and build 1 large tank. This tank I plan to keep mixed soft and SPS. That why I ask regarding supplements for the coral.
My be you thinking where I get coral if no shop selling them. I get it from my friend, who is a diver (not a pro Diver). We take only what we need, no more than that.

 

[joshrules123456]

If thats your situation, depending on how much money you have, I would definatly use kalk, or a ca reactor. I have nearly the same problem, the products are available to me, but I dont have the money to use them, so with my horribly limited budget, I switched to dripping kalk. Im getting better results, and it costs less than half of what I was doing before. If youve got the cash, I would get a ca reactor, if ya dont, set up a kalk dripper, so you could just buy a large bulk ammount of kalk for cheap, and your ca and alk demands are taken care of for a long time, giving you ample time to find another source of calcium before it runs out. As I stated before, if you can get brightwell kalk+2, use it, It doesnt keep up with the mg demand perfectly like it claims to, but it does have a significant impact, and and will save you some money.

 

[luther1200]

I personally just started using the bright well kalk +2 just to give it a try. I wanted to use it a year and a half ago when I started dripping kalk, but I was scared away because alot of people said the mg just precipitates out of it. Using regular kalk, and when I had the money to test mg every couple days, I noticed no added stability in the mg department. Ive been using kalk+2 for about 2 weeks now, Ive been doing water changes with oceanic salt for mg dosing every 2 weeks due to my financial situation. for the last couple months as I burned up my last mg test kit, I noticed color differences in my acros due to mg deficiancy, witch is how I judge if I need mg right now, and in 2 weeks I see the change and use the oceanic salt to correct it. Now that ive been using the kalk+2, the apparent bi weekly mg deficancy seems to be a thing of the past, and I might change to monthly water changes if this keeps up. They use it at one of my lfs's and the owner said he's used it for 2 years now and vs regular kalk, it cuts his need to dose mg. in about half, not exactly the perfect ratio that the packaging promises, but there is definatly a significant increase in mg stability when using it. adding to that the fact that its only $2 more a lb. on average, and in my situation it nearly eliminates my need for additional mg. and if I was still testing for it, it would cut my need to test in nearly half (would save about $15 every month and a half plus the cost of mg supplement) I think Im gonna stick with it.

FWIW, I used a whole large jar of Kalk+2 and trust me it adds zero Mg to your system. No more or less than any other kalk will do. I did a similar test to which you are talking about. I didn't dose any Mg like I normally do for 2 months. And monitered my MG. It slowly dropped from 1450 to 1350. And I think the only reason it didn't drop faster was because of my weekly water changes with RC that had a Mg of 1400.