Sudden rise in calcium inhibit polyp extension?

evan127 · May 8, 2017

I refilled my calcium container and left the pump on while clearing the line. Oops. Rise from 420ppm to 470ppm. I started to notice my polyp extension on a few of my acros was pitiful. Before the rise the polyps looked like they might pop off the coral. Now they are barely sticking out.

So, can a sudden rise in calcium result in poor polyp extension in acros?

DLHDesign · May 8, 2017

I'd think a sudden change in anything could result in at least a temporary reduction in polyp extension. How long ago was the rise?

Best Fish-Jake · May 8, 2017

It's not that the calcium is inhibiting extension, but as @DLHDesign said, a sudden change in any core water parameter will come with a response from your coral

Brew12 · May 8, 2017

evan127 said:
I refilled my calcium container and left the pump on while clearing the line. Oops. Rise from 420ppm to 470ppm. I started to notice my polyp extension on a few of my acros was pitiful. Before the rise the polyps looked like they might pop off the coral. Now they are barely sticking out.

So, can a sudden rise in calcium result in poor polyp extension in acros?

Have you tested to make sure your Alk didn't drop from this?

evan127 · May 8, 2017

I have. Alkalinity didn't swing more than 0.5dKH luckily. I'm testing for alkalinity daily now until my parameters get back to my targets.

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 8, 2017

I doubt the calcium played a role in the polyp extension change. What exactly did you dose?

evan127 · May 8, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I doubt the calcium played a role in the polyp extension change. What exactly did you dose?

Thanks for the response! I don't know the volume I added. I would guess less than 30ml of BRS calcium. Looking back through my log book, here are the things I have changed in the last two weeks.
- Added filter socks again.
- Increased photoperiod by 2 hours over 15 days. (Since pulled back the photoperiod to 8 hours blues, 6 hours full.)
- Decreased BRS Chili feedings from every night to every other night.
- Decreased usage of Pohls Xtra Special from 5ml daily to 1ml daily.
- Changed RODI sediment filter, carbon filter, DI resin
- 5 gallon water change per week at 1.0265

No new additions, no new deaths.

evan127 · May 9, 2017

Any suggestions based on that info?

DLHDesign · May 9, 2017

evan127 said:
- Added filter socks again.

This could result in fewer desired nutrients in the tank (you're catching and removing things that could previously return to the food chain). Conversely, it could result in an increase in undesirables (if the socks aren't changed, they will result in material - which used to be consumed - being broken down into Bad Stuff). Or they may have no impact on your acros at all.

evan127 said:
- Increased photoperiod by 2 hours over 15 days. (Since pulled back the photoperiod to 8 hours blues, 6 hours full.)

Light changes, even gentle ones, could very likely impact things. If you had good extension, what caused you to change the lights?

evan127 said:
- Decreased BRS Chili feedings from every night to every other night.
- Decreased usage of Pohls Xtra Special from 5ml daily to 1ml daily.

Less food may trigger less of a feeding response, perhaps?

Sounds to me like you've made a significant number of changes in a (relatively) brief period of time. I'd guess that it's going to be hard to pin down the cause of the change to any one thing. Though I'm no expert here by any means, so perhaps others will know where to look next in the puzzle...

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 10, 2017

evan127 said:
Any suggestions based on that info?

Not really. Polyp extension is impacted by many things, but not generally calcium additions.

evan127 · May 10, 2017

Thanks for the reply Randy! I guess I need to take a step back and see what I've done to limit polyp extension!

evan127 · May 17, 2017

So I am still having the same problem with the same corals. Others seem to be fine, but polyp extension is non existent on 5 corals.

I ended up finding a huge detritus pile under my rock work that I siphoned out along with a 20 gallon water change a few days after I posted.

I'm not really sure of what to do. I did however find that my population of white flatworms (not AEFW) has increased since my six line passed. Could they be the culprit even though they aren't eating the tissue?

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 17, 2017

Any chance any creature is bothering them? Maybe at night?

evan127 · May 17, 2017

Not that I'm aware of. I usually get out the flashlight and take a peak around the tank at night. I haven't seen any critters. I thought I had AEFW and thought night time would be the best time to see them. No sign of them.

Zooxanthellae is quite dense in all of my acros, except for a red milli that shows excellent polyp extension.

evan127 · May 25, 2017

Ok, I am still having issues. Polyp extension on the same corals is still nonexistent. My green planet is STNing a little bit. Yesterday's parameter checks were as follows:
- Alkalinity - 8.4dKH
- Calcium - 450ppm
- PO4 - 0.00ppm
- NO3 - less than 3ppm
- Water temperature - 77.6F
- Salinity - 1.026SG/35ppt
- Photoperiod - 10 hours of two Blue Plus, 5 hours of two blue plus, one Coral Plus, one Purple Plus

Could the balance of calcium and alkalinity be off and that's what is causing my issues? Is it photoperiod? What am I suddenly doing wrong?

Edit: I've slowly stopped feeding 1/8tsp of Reef Chili, 10 drops of Pohl's Coral Vitalizer and 5 drops of KZ Amino Acids every night to every few nights. Is that my issue? I have implemented KZ trace elements at half the recommended dosage, but my issues started before then.

evan127 · May 25, 2017

Could my increase of water changes to correct whatever is happening in my tank throwing fuel on the fire? Could the fluctuation of parameters be making things worse? HWMarine salt measures at 9dKH, 450ppm calcium. My tank's targets are 8.4dKH and 420ppm.

flagg37 · May 25, 2017

I can't remember a time when a water change had bad results.

evan127 · May 25, 2017

flagg37 said:
I can't remember a time when a water change had bad results.

I'm just thinking along the lines of stripping the water too clean or causing too many fluctuations in the water chemistry too consistently.

flagg37 · May 25, 2017

I think you have a much better chance of it fixing or at least helping whatever problem you're having than it hurting it. The only reason it would harm things is if your rodi water is bad.

evan127 · May 26, 2017

I keep up on replacing my RODI filters and flush the membrane every 50 gallons or so. TDS meter always indicates 0 on the output and only 2-3 on the input.