What causes fragile coral skeletons?
- Thread starter ThRoewer
- Start date
Piper27
I love bengals
Pictures of the acros that are fragile? Species matters, but most should be fairly strong. Flow is a big one that can lack leading to thin, weak, long funny looking branching. Some water parameters can cause some of these problems if off base for long periods of time. Pictures would help most, along with tank size and flow.
Monti are defiantly soft and brittle birdsnest are easy to break but only because they are long and thin. They arent really brittle though, most birdsnest should have hard skeletons, not weak or soft branches.
Monti are defiantly soft and brittle birdsnest are easy to break but only because they are long and thin. They arent really brittle though, most birdsnest should have hard skeletons, not weak or soft branches.
ThRoewer
New member
I tried it once but use GFO and vodka dosing now to knock down PO4 and NO3.
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ThRoewer
New member
I think this might be one factor for sure. For some reason my Ca value is always a bit below of what it should be in regards to the Alk. I'm dosing ESV B-ionic 2 part solution, but it seems that the consumption is somewhat asymmetric.
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Piper27
I love bengals
I had the same problem when first doing bionic. I believe I had to straighten out my calcium and bring it to levels equal to where alk would be. And over time with dosing more calcium the two equaled out and I could dose both at the same ratio. Make sure mag is at a good level and not low or it could cause problems trying to level out your other two levels. I found some growth was soft with no wierd growth formations. Do you have any odd growth or hyperplasia? It seemed to o my affect certain acros with the odd growth for me. Once I everything was correct skeletons hardened and things grew correctly.
Spslvr
New member
cal and alk ratios are not really relevant as long as they are within an acceptable range, the poly will secrete calcium carbonate regardless, cal is cal and alk is alk....
ph is the factor of importance, the higher the ph the faster the polyp can secrete calcium carbonate the problem is that when the polyp secretes at a faster rate it doesn't utilize other elements as quickly so your skeletons are comprised mainly of calcium carbonate and a lot less of the strengthening elements which makes sense as you stated you are having trouble keeping your calcium high ... what is also interesting to note is that once returned to an optimal growth rate those skeletons will become dense again.
although it is possible this is not your issue altogether.... which is why im interested in your average ph...
ph is the factor of importance, the higher the ph the faster the polyp can secrete calcium carbonate the problem is that when the polyp secretes at a faster rate it doesn't utilize other elements as quickly so your skeletons are comprised mainly of calcium carbonate and a lot less of the strengthening elements which makes sense as you stated you are having trouble keeping your calcium high ... what is also interesting to note is that once returned to an optimal growth rate those skeletons will become dense again.
although it is possible this is not your issue altogether.... which is why im interested in your average ph...
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Spslvr
New member
Basically the higher the faster within reason.. at the farm our tanks sit on an average of 8.9
Myka
Reefing since '93
Sorry, I don't believe that is accurate unless you're directly modifying it. :twitch:
Spslvr
New member
cause im lying???
