Alk & Cal Stability

[Joe.S]

Hey all quick question,

If alkalinity and calcium (but more importantly alk) is not stable and maintained properly, will that stop or slow down coral growth? Even including soft corals even though they don’t rely on those elements as much as stony’s?

Thanks as always everyone, happy reefing.

 

[Jeffcb]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm
This is a good article.

 

[Dkmoo]

+10000 on that website - it's been my reef bible. esp the ones that Randy wrote. I'd also check out this one:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-04/rhf/feature/index.php
and all other ones he writes about water chemistry.

To just quickly answer you tho - Alk and Calc plays a big role in calcification (the formation of Calcium Carbonate) - this is the "bone growth" in corals. So in this regard, it will be more important for LPS/SPS than for Softies.

That said, Alk stability also plays an important role in PH. PH is important for calcification too in LPS/SPS, but it is also important for all your other organisms (fish, pods, softies, etc..) so large swings in PH will be detrimental for your whole tank.

So, yes - maintaining good alk/calc will be good very important for LPS growth, but it is also not irrelevant for the overall health and growth of the rest of your tank organisms.