Low absorption

Macdaddynick1 · Feb 17, 2020

Gary Inwood said:
I am battling high P04 and N03 at the moment and my calcium absorption did not go up it is staying around 500 ppm.

That makes sense, high po4 stalls calcification too. You need to have po4 and no3 in an acceptable range. Good luck with your battle.

PicassoDan · Feb 17, 2020

I think the combination of high Alk (10.25dKH) and low phosphate could be the problem. I would target Alk in the 8.0-8.5dKH range. Do you have a low-range phosphate test kit, like the Hanna 736? An actual number would help diagnose.

adamsfour · Feb 17, 2020

Spare time said:
I feel like a single light on a 24x48x18 tank (if its the dimension I am thinking of) not even at 3/4s power is definitely not enough

Sorry if I mis-spoke. I have 3 Hydra 26 equally spaced. The tank Vendor recommended two but I actually put on three and reduced the power for a more even spread

adamsfour · Feb 17, 2020

PicassoDan said:
I think the combination of high Alk (10.25dKH) and low phosphate could be the problem. I would target Alk in the 8.0-8.5dKH range. Do you have a low-range phosphate test kit, like the Hanna 736? An actual number would help diagnose.

Interesting so Can high Alk impact Calcium being absorbed

Spare time · Feb 17, 2020

Well I think what I would try is dosing amino acids. I would also raise the blue channels more if it was my tank but that all depends on how your par is.

Amino acids do not need to be "captured" like other foods do and are easily used/taken in by corals

adamsfour · Feb 17, 2020

PicassoDan said:
I think the combination of high Alk (10.25dKH) and low phosphate could be the problem. I would target Alk in the 8.0-8.5dKH range. Do you have a low-range phosphate test kit, like the Hanna 736? An actual number would help diagnose.

I just ordered a low-range Hanna so I should have better numbers in a few days

Spare time · Feb 17, 2020

adamsfour said:
Interesting so Can high Alk impact Calcium being absorbed

Higher alk results in more growth. The only corals that do not do well with higher alk would be acros.

Gary Inwood · Feb 18, 2020

Macdaddynick1 said:
That makes sense, high po4 stalls calcification too. You need to have po4 and no3 in an acceptable range. Good luck with your battle.

I am adding reactor with rowa phos this week and i am running a bio pellet reactor too.

Dennis Cartier · Feb 18, 2020

Two things jump out at me with the OP's post. Low nitrate and no phosphate and a fuge. You are going to need phosphate for coral growth and even coral health. Having undetecable phosphate will likely cause you problems long term.

The other things that comes to mind is trace elements. Unless you have a very comprehensive water change schedule, having a fuge can deplete your trace elements. I have experienced this on multiple occaisions. Are your SPS looking healthy or are they paling out and looking 'thin' (the tissue)?

My suggestion is to look into lowering your fuge light period and perhaps try some trace element additives. I like the Red Sea Coral Colors program (just for the traces) and have found corals respond well when they are deficient in trace elements.

adamsfour · Feb 18, 2020

Thanks I do add trace elements manually. Sorry should have mentioned that. Presently I run fudge 14 hours and I really like the idea cutting back. Seems to be a common theme among the replies. What do you recommend cut it back to maybe 1/2 to 6-7 hours.

NanoDJS · Feb 18, 2020

adamsfour said:
Interesting so Can high Alk impact Calcium being absorbed

What your going down the path of is called , nutrient uptake. The basic principle is when your dkh/cal/mag are correct you can "uptake" nutrients much more easily. I keep my dkh at 9 for mixed reef , lots of SPS , my system uptakes around 30-40 ppm Cal a day and around .5 -1.0 of dkh daily. 80 gallon tank.

Dennis Cartier · Feb 18, 2020

adamsfour said:
Thanks I do add trace elements manually. Sorry should have mentioned that. Presently I run fudge 14 hours and I really like the idea cutting back. Seems to be a common theme among the replies. What do you recommend cut it back to maybe 1/2 to 6-7 hours.

I would probably drop it by 25 - 33%, say 8 hours, and monitor your nitrate and phosphate closely. You want to see an impact from the change in photo period to know that the increase in nutrient availability has an effect on any (hopeful) change in coral growth/health.