SPS without Supplements.

[joshrules123456]

Phosphate could play a role in this, even trace ammounts, I had trouble maintaing the big 3 untill I switched from gfo to vodka, and as I said, It doesnt completely keep up with it. Ive heard 50/50 that it works and dont, ime it does to an extent, maby it could be inconsistancy in the product, or the brand test kit you use. My corals are looking noticably better since the switch.

 

[luther1200]

Yes, there is many variables involved. What I did like about it was it seemed to mix up very clear, and had little sediment on the bottom compared to other brands. And I do agree that kalkwasser, (what ever brand the OP chooses) is a good option.

 

[joshrules123456]

the other variable I forgot to mention, witch seems to be common with those getting positive results from kalk +2, it that my kalk solution is not saturated, 1 tsp per gallon. When I was using saturated kalk, I had a lot of precipitation in the driper resivwar, now at halfway to saturation, I have almost none. When calcium and alk. precipitate, it takes magnesium with it, that being said, I think this could be the most important variable in the equasion.

 

[luther1200]

I was also using 1 tsp/gal. Maybe I just have a higher Mg demand than some others.

 

[joshrules123456]

I think we should put this discussion in the chemistry forum.

 

[dan223]

I noticed color differences in my acros due to mg deficiancy, witch is how I judge if I need mg right now,

Could you elaborate on that, lighter, darker? Ive never heard of that.

 

[joshrules123456]

Its only some corals, mainly sps, If you browse through some of the threads on here you'll get a good description. Some corals just display more intense color and growth with an elevated magnesium environment. I drew this conclusion after months of testing and hours a day of observation, If ya want to get that deep into it, you can also see it in coraline growth. Its something you have to see yourself through accurate testing and intense observation of your corals and tank in general. I had to figure this out because I dont have the $15 for a mg test kit every 1.5-2 months.

 

[chefrt]

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.

What do you say dripping kalk is enough to supplements for ca. But some people say kalk not enough to supplements for ca, still need to add in ca. I have a Aquaz Brand Kalk, i have not using them yet because my coral mostly soft coral. When i start to keep SPS then i will start to used them.

 

[CleveYank]

Small systems dosing Ca and Alk is usually the best.

Getting into larger than 100 gallons it can become a pain and hence Ca reactor and or Ca reactor in conjunction with a Kalk reactor is more popular with the 300 gallon plus folks.

 

[chefrt]

What about if not enough or no supplements at all just water change 10 to 20% on every week using FSW, what happened to the coral. Are the coral can be grow or survive.