So you want to grow beautiful acropora huh? Take a tip, leave a tip.

[Charlie’s Frags]

What's the par on this sps tank? Looks amazing. I have the same lights as you, what's your mix for the light channels?

Love this tank…..and I love idiot commentary

 

[JayinToronto]

Love this tank…..and I love idiot commentary

Thanks!
Those measurements are waaaaay higher than mine. I max out around 450 for my frags at the top. Maybe it's time to crank it up! (I'm only running about 45% max power during the day).

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Thanks!
Those measurements are waaaaay higher than mine. I max out around 450 for my frags at the top. Maybe it's time to crank it up! (I'm only running about 45% max power during the day).

Hopefully the tank owner will respond but I believe those par peaks happen for less than an hour. His lighting schedule ramps resemble a pyramid. His schedule is posted in his build thread

 

[JayinToronto]

Hopefully the tank owner will respond but I believe those par peaks happen for less than an hour. His lighting schedule ramps resemble a pyramid. His schedule is posted in his build thread

Good to know. Thanks.

 

[DieHardPhotog-Reefer]

1. Strong random flow, a lighting fixture with very good spread (I prefer T5 lighting), and having detectable nutrients is very important to me. Also stable water parameters are a must, I test alk and calcium almost every night. Making sure you purchase your Acropora from pest free sources, and having a QT setup for them is key for long term success. You'd be surprised how many vendors have pest ridden coral (AEFW, red bugs, black bugs...)

2. Never really had a breakthrough as I've always had good success with Acropora. One thing I have noticed is that a mature tank can grow SPS a lot faster compared to a new one. Usually around the 1 year mark (dry rock tank) Acropora really start taking off in my experience.

When considering the sources for acropora, would you be willing to offer two or three that you have personal experience with or some that you would choose to purchase from yourself?

 

[Acroporaguy]

When considering the sources for acropora, would you be willing to offer two or three that you have personal experience with or some that you would choose to purchase from yourself?

I'm from Canada, so unfortunately I can't purchase from the states. In terms of sellers I have access to, I trust Reef Raft Canada, GTA Reef, and Frag Garage. If I could order from the states I wouldn't hesitate purchasing from Jason Fox or Coral Euphoria.

 

[Willbiker]

Stability, patience, waterflow ,lighting and check your Alk daily

I also agree with this. For alk, in your opinion, how stable is stable? Do you have fluctuation allowance?

 

[acropora4u]

can an sps acropora reef be successful dosing with a kalk reactor instead of a calcium reactor?

 

[Treefer32]

I go from 8.7 to 9.4 sometimes in a 7 day period. That to me is stable. Doesn't fluctuate in a day more than .5 it should be stable. .7 in a week to me is fantastic. . Well, according to my Acropora it's fantastic.

 

[ScottB]

can an sps acropora reef be successful dosing with a kalk reactor instead of a calcium reactor?

I have to believe some reefers have figured out how to do kalk alone successfully for an SPS tank. I ditched my CaRx (well, actually, I broke it) and have been running a kalk stirrer and ESV 2-Part on a roughly 300G SPS system. Both are dosed via APEX DOS.

In a 24 hr cycle, I dose 3.6 liters of kalkwasser and 240ml of ESV. In my case, kalk is doing about 1/2 the work of maintaining: ALK at 8ish, and Calcium well over 450.

Kalk does most of the work for maintaining pH 8.2 to 8.4.

In my particular case, I am not sure exactly how I could pull it off without the 2-part. If I had to double my kalkwasser amount, I'd be bumping into my pH ceiling I think. Or pushing down salinity at night anyway. I got here by accident, by I actually like this setup now. APEX DOS makes it sooo easy to manage those three parameters. I solve first for pH with the stirrer & DOS, then solve separately ALK/Ca with the other DOS.

 

[jmichaelh7]

I was thinking switching from Trident to dosing calcium to Kalkwasser in ATO. Then I think I may cause fluctuations with alkalinity etc trying to chase pH.

Kalkwasser any better than Co2 scrubber on Skimmer?

I have to believe some reefers have figured out how to do kalk alone successfully for an SPS tank. I ditched my CaRx (well, actually, I broke it) and have been running a kalk stirrer and ESV 2-Part on a roughly 300G SPS system. Both are dosed via APEX DOS.

In a 24 hr cycle, I dose 3.6 liters of kalkwasser and 240ml of ESV. In my case, kalk is doing about 1/2 the work of maintaining: ALK at 8ish, and Calcium well over 450.

Kalk does most of the work for maintaining pH 8.2 to 8.4.

In my particular case, I am not sure exactly how I could pull it off without the 2-part. If I had to double my kalkwasser amount, I'd be bumping into my pH ceiling I think. Or pushing down salinity at night anyway. I got here by accident, by I actually like this setup now. APEX DOS makes it sooo easy to manage those three parameters. I solve first for pH with the stirrer & DOS, then solve separately ALK/Ca with the other DOS.

c

I have to believe some reefers have figured out how to do kalk alone successfully for an SPS tank. I ditched my CaRx (well, actually, I broke it) and have been running a kalk stirrer and ESV 2-Part on a roughly 300G SPS system. Both are dosed via APEX DOS.

In a 24 hr cycle, I dose 3.6 liters of kalkwasser and 240ml of ESV. In my case, kalk is doing about 1/2 the work of maintaining: ALK at 8ish, and Calcium well over 450.

Kalk does most of the work for maintaining pH 8.2 to 8.4.

In my particular case, I am not sure exactly how I could pull it off without the 2-part. If I had to double my kalkwasser amount, I'd be bumping into my pH ceiling I think. Or pushing down salinity at night anyway. I got here by accident, by I actually like this setup now. APEX DOS makes it sooo easy to manage those three parameters. I solve first for pH with the stirrer & DOS, then solve separately ALK/Ca with the other DOS.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

can an sps acropora reef be successful dosing with a kalk reactor instead of a calcium reactor?

Yes. That’s basically all I use

And my alk swings from 6.5-8.5 with zero issues

 

[ScottB]

I was thinking switching from Trident to dosing calcium to Kalkwasser in ATO. Then I think I may cause fluctuations with alkalinity etc trying to chase pH.

Kalkwasser any better than Co2 scrubber on Skimmer?

c

There are some pretty good threads around here about ATO deployment of kalkwasser. If your evaporation rate is dead steady, it is OK. Mine is not, so it is a no-go for me. Also, some extra maintenance or risk involved. Valves and pumps controlling RODI are one thing. Valves and pumps controlling kalkwasser are a whole different story IMO.

To me, it is all about controlling dosing, and ATO just has too much noise, uncontrolled interference and risk attached. That said, many reefers do it.

Here is a picture of controlled dosing:

 

[fcmatt]

Stop trying so hard. Stop overstocking with a zillion frags. Have some flipping patience.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I use the cheap two little fishes kalk reactor from my Neptune’s ato/reservoir.