Basic Chem levels won’t go up!

[MadCaddy]

I’m working to up the Ca, Mg and KH of my tank in preparation for adding corals. I’m starting with smaller frags so was hoping for a chemical level that would facilitate faster growth. I thought I’d try one of the Red Sea recipes recommended for exceptional growth. It calls for 465 ppm Ca, 1390 ppm Mg and 12 dKH. I had quite a ways to raise my levels to get there so I’ve been dosing supplements daily for the last week or so (Seachem reef builder for KH, Seachem reef advantage do Ca, and Red Sea foundation C for Mg. I’ve notice that the levels seem to have topped off at 400 ppm Ca, 1275 mg and about 10 dKH. When I add more of each supplement the Ca and Mg either stay about the same (or even go down?). And the KH seems to fluctuate. I had it up to 12 but has since dropped to 10. At any rate, can anyone tell me why I can’t get the levels up consistently to my target? I haven’t noticed any excess precipitate and my pH seems steady at about 8.3.

 

[Timfish]

There's a lot more to growth in corals than just basic parameters, both spectrum/intensity and genotype play important roles among others. So I wouldn't worry about getting fast growth right away. Once you get youir corals growing you can try tweeking parameters. All the biology in your system will be messing with numbers so expect numbers to be constatnly changing. Just FYI, trying to get fast growth can compramise the health of your coral.

Fast Growth May Impair Regeneration Capacity in the Branching Coral Acropora muricata

Regeneration of artificially induced lesions was monitored in nubbins of the branching coral Acropora muricata at two reef-flat sites representing contrasting environments at Réunion Island (21°07′S, 55°32′E). Growth ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.1912

Mechanisms and potential immune tradeoffs of accelerated coral growth induced by microfragmentation

Microfragmentation is the act of cutting corals into small pieces (~1 cm2) to accelerate the growth rates of corals relative to growth rates observed when maintaining larger-sized fragments. This rapid tissue and skeletal expansion technique offers great potential for supporting reef...

peerj.com

Differential Effects of Substrate Type and Genet on Growth of Microfragments of Acropora palmata

Global decline of coral reefs has led to a widespread adoption of asexual propagation techniques for coral restoration, whereby coral colonies are fragmented and allowed to re-grow before being returned to the reef. While this approach has become increasingly popular and successful, many...

www.frontiersin.org

Coral Coloration and Incident Light: A Photographic Essay

Departments of Chemistry and Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802

reefs.com

 

[Doctorgori]

why are you concerned with elevating the levels?

(I did see your mg is kinda low)
Nothing wrong with NSW levels either …. Alk at 7ish might be “riding the fence” but maybe not if you test regularly …
I like 8ish anymore and there is a thread around here somewhere about lower alkalinity ,,,
anyway, Alk, mg, Ca … would be the one area to apply the ole “stability is the key” mantra ….