- Joined
- May 6, 2019
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The back ground:
I started my tank in July 2019, first livestock went in about mid Oct. Coraline has been building steady since late Nov. At that time I added my first test SPS coral, a green slimmer staghorn. Since then I have added 25 other SPS corals as well as some Zoas and Hammer corals.
For reference, many SPS are encrusting and the slimmer has grown 1”. So from what I can see the corals are using Calc. Colors look good for the most part. Some reds are weak. Most of the SPS are getting 210-240 par at 9” below the waterline. I’m slowly increasing lighting with a goal of 350 around 3” from the top waterline. (Just seems like a good number at that height.) The tank is 24” tall and waterline is at 22”
PH is 7.8 - 8.2 through the day.
I use Tropic Marin Pro and am set up to do AWC at .6gal 4 times a day. The tank is 130g and 35 in the sump.
The Problem/question
Alk drops steady at 10ml per day or .1 however Calcium and Mag are holding high and steady at 500 and 1470 respectfully. Cal and Mag are tested with salifert test kits. They are high according to everything I have read.
I assumed that I should see an equal drop in Calc and Mag with the usage of Alk. Is this not the case?
To keep the Alk at 8-8.1 I have dosed Red Sea Alk.
My assumption is I will start seeing more Calc and Mag usage soon as the corals seem to be settling in. But that’s just an assumption.
Thanks for any insight you guys can provide.
I started my tank in July 2019, first livestock went in about mid Oct. Coraline has been building steady since late Nov. At that time I added my first test SPS coral, a green slimmer staghorn. Since then I have added 25 other SPS corals as well as some Zoas and Hammer corals.
For reference, many SPS are encrusting and the slimmer has grown 1”. So from what I can see the corals are using Calc. Colors look good for the most part. Some reds are weak. Most of the SPS are getting 210-240 par at 9” below the waterline. I’m slowly increasing lighting with a goal of 350 around 3” from the top waterline. (Just seems like a good number at that height.) The tank is 24” tall and waterline is at 22”
PH is 7.8 - 8.2 through the day.
I use Tropic Marin Pro and am set up to do AWC at .6gal 4 times a day. The tank is 130g and 35 in the sump.
The Problem/question
Alk drops steady at 10ml per day or .1 however Calcium and Mag are holding high and steady at 500 and 1470 respectfully. Cal and Mag are tested with salifert test kits. They are high according to everything I have read.
I assumed that I should see an equal drop in Calc and Mag with the usage of Alk. Is this not the case?
To keep the Alk at 8-8.1 I have dosed Red Sea Alk.
My assumption is I will start seeing more Calc and Mag usage soon as the corals seem to be settling in. But that’s just an assumption.
Thanks for any insight you guys can provide.