Whats best for these corals?

[Darren neil]

Ok I have a few nice pieces of montipora and acros.the montiporas I have Ive had for some time now and there growing not all that fast but growing. the acro that I just got two weeks ago has growed off the frag plug onto the rock in two weeks so its doing ok. the polyps are not out like they were at the lfs. I have the same watt per gallon as there tank 5.7 watts. mine are t5s and the lfs are mh.I know my tank is better in water quality then theres. so what can i do to help my monti and acros? is my light good enough what kind of food do i need to feed? just want to know if theres anyone that might know of something that works well for these corals. thanks for any info
Temp-78.0
salinity-1.025
PH-8.4
Cal-420
Dkh-14
Ammo-0
nitrate-0

 

[UrbanSage]

How fast do you expect them to grow?
Whenever you see people talk about super fast[/i[ growing corals they are usually full of crap
Corals don't grow very fast, and frog frag size to golf ball size can in some species take a year.
On the other hand some Montipora sp. can get quite large in a year.

So, what kinda growth are you expecting out of them?

Your dKH is way above natural levels. Try bringing it down to 8-9 then maybe check you phosphate if you think there is a concern.

But if the frag is attaching outside the frag plug after two weeks I doubt you have much to be concerned about.

 

[Darren neil]

my dkh stays on 14. it was around 7 to 9 before i put a calcium reactor on my tank. now it stays on 14. i dont really know how to get it down with out cutting the reactor off. for a few days but it will be back at 14 in a day when i trun it back on.

 

[Darren neil]

im not really looking for them to grow fast i just wants whats best for them like food, water movement, lighting ect. thanks

 

[xian]

Acro's prefer higher light then Monti's WPG is not a reliable measure of light but with the amount of T5 you have there shouldn't be a problem.

Both like alot of waterflow.

They will benefit from small zooplankton like rotifers.

What kind of Montipora is it?

 

[Darren neil]

red cap, green with purple rim, brown with purple rim and a spongodes. do i need to traget feed them with zooplankton are just but some in the tank. i have alot of flow in the tank.i have been feeding the live marine phytoplankton by DT's. is that ok can i feed both?

 

[xian]

You can target feed them but I don't bother.

They don't eat phytoplankton, but they do eat the other small organisms that eat the phyto.

The cap's are fast growers as you have seen.

 

[Darren neil]

ok thanks for the help your the only one who has taken the time to help me with out being a smart a-- . so on my DKH is it ok at 14 i have people tell thats its ok higher but no higher then 14.

 

[xian]

There is some good info in this thread. The Alk is a bit high. As is the pH I would guess that if you add some buffers such as B-ionic it might stabilize a bit.

The problem with the Alk being so high is that it might cause the the Ca to crash.

 

[Aquarist007]

are you dosing anything for the alkalinity eg buffers?

Also what salt mix are you using.

Both these questions can factor into high alkalinity.

 

[Darren neil]

no not dosing anything. i use reef crystals for my salt.so can i just trun my calcium reactor off and wait a few days and check everything and dose from that?

 

[xian]

If anything a reactor should lower your pH and not raise your alk that high.

What kind of reactor is it?

 

[mat167]

What kind of water are you using? I assume RO/DI, maybe the filters need changing?

 

[jbird69]

It sound like things are doing well to me. Have you looked at your acros at night to see if there is better polyp extension? I have 2 acros that polyps are barely out in the light and they are big and hairy with polyps at night. Sometimes fish might pick at them a little and cause them to not extend polyps.
There are arguments on both sides of the fence about feeding sps. Both methods are successful, and both methods arent. depends on who you talk to.
There is no debate that excellent water quality, stability, strong lighting and good random flow are a combo for success.

 

[Darren neil]

The reactor that i have is the K2R. if that helps any. ok I know were this is going to go but i do not use RO/DI water I have all ways use my well water.never no problem with useing it.yes I have looked at them at night and they seem to be the same to me. I just don't see why there not out like there were at the LFS.

 

[xian]

What other corals have you been keeping up to this point?

I used well water at school, it is actually pretty clean there (about 45 ppm tds) and softies did well for about half a year. When I wanted my students to start propagating sps they weren't doing well. Everything improved when I stopped using the well water. The well water also killed our rainbow trout that year. When I started investigating the water test positive for copper.

What is the Alk on your well water? That might be the root of your high alk.

If you haven't kept acro's before you may notice that they are much more sensitive than other corals.

 

[Darren neil]

I have 6 different types of leathers,5 lobos,3 types of candycanes,frogspawns,zoas,2 cup corals,clam,fiva,shrooms.plate coral, worm rock and gsp. ok i just checked my well water and its 8 i never had this problem in till i put my calcium reactor on my tank. so do u think i need to do a 50% water change with RO water and do another one in two weeks of 50%. I have always used well water and I thought that my corals were doing great. I havent lost anything in two years. how did you find out your water had copper in it. just a test kit like API?