Thick stalks and high cal question

F

Furballnow

New member
I want thicker stalks on all of my frags and beside high flow I would like to raise my cal to about 500-560ppm. What are the adverse effects with high cal?

I'm currently holding steady at 400-420ppm. Alk is 8.0dhk.
 
Why would raising calcium increase the stalk size? Never heard that before nor would I personally try it.

I think thicker stalks come with flow, light and stability and pretty much most importantly age =) . I used to have a guide somewhere that stated if your cal =x, alk should =x and it's repeated somewhat regularly on the forums.. I've read plenty of chemistry threads where most state 500's of cal isn't bad at all when someone is panicking but I have never seen it recommended and done deliberately so far fwiw.

I would think it would be unbalanced and add a point of stress for the corals in turn having a negative effect.. The coral/tank is only going to use a certain amount of calcium regardless of super saturating the water.. It isn't going to speed it up the least bit imo. It's not like a plant

This might help if you haven't read it. There is plenty more that I'm sure can answer almost any Chem question you may think of.. I have used these articles in the past regularly to refer to when I have/had a question or need to understand something and if what someone else is saying is true or not =).. Most shoot for 450 or under.. There is a reason for that..
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/#1
 
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Well I read somewhere European systems run high cal to get jumbo size stalks. Gonna try to see if I can find the thread.
 
High calcium gives higher growth with higher alk. U will lose a lot of colour though. In my tank anything over 460 cal I get browning of some corals.

More flow makes sps grow thicker in my experience.
 
Keeping elevated calcium levels above 500 will thicken the tips of some branching type Sps from my past experiences. Keeping elevated calcium above 500 to 750will not cause any harm. Higher then that I have no idea.
 
Interesting question and I love all the replies. We have anecdotes, hearsay and conjecture, but no facts or research.

A good place to start to answer your question would be by learning how corals grow.

Here's a study showing differences in coral growth in the ocean were most affected by temperature, the corresponding oxygen level in the water due to the temp and the nutrients available.

There is no research showing that increased levels of calcium cause an increase in the growth of corals or cause any change in their physical form.
 
Most importantly is the specie of the acropora. Many acroporas will not get thick if they are genetically not designed to be thick. Examples of some thick acros are, robusta, abrotanoides. One cannot induce a yongei to be as thick as the aforementioned acros. Some environmental influences are also important to accomplish what nature has designed,
 
Reefvet said:
Interesting question and I love all the replies. We have anecdotes, hearsay and conjecture, but no facts or research.

A good place to start to answer your question would be by learning how corals grow.

Here's a study showing differences in coral growth in the ocean were most affected by temperature, the corresponding oxygen level in the water due to the temp and the nutrients available.

There is no research showing that increased levels of calcium cause an increase in the growth of corals or cause any change in their physical form.
Click to expand...






Me think someone in Europe used the equivalent of HGH on their tank and the stalks are stupid thick.
 
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