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So my tank is a 45 gallon with a reef breeders photonv2 and one power head but seems like my coral aren’t taking off like I would like. Would adding a calcium reactor or adding a t5 light be better?
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Without any numbers on water or par levels on lighting in your tank we can not make a good guess .
That’s like asking would getting a car be better or buying a blender.
Two different things. That do two different jobs.
Get a calcium reactor when you have enough alk and cal consumption to justify the expense. Get the lights when you are ready to get corals because without good lights a cal reactor would be just an expensive paperweight.
I meant no offense by the way. The analogy was meant to be a joke not an insult.
That’s like asking would getting a car be better or buying a blender.
Two different things. That do two different jobs.
Get a calcium reactor when you have enough alk and cal consumption to justify the expense. Get the lights when you are ready to get corals because without good lights a cal reactor would be just an expensive paperweight.
I meant no offense by the way. The analogy was meant to be a joke not an insult.
I would try and get parameters in a more acceptable range first. Acceptable range meaning based off what the bulk of other reefers are running.
If it were my tank I would bump calcium over 400. Get some po4 in the tank by feeding more. I would raise salinity to 1.025/1.026.
I would stick with 2 part if you are not seeing a lot of growth. More than likely it’s your parameters causing growth inhibition without knowing your par/spectrum and the age of your tank.
Get your parameters in line, especially alk. You need stability more than anything.Tanks only 4 months old but I’m just curious if there are tricks or things I can add on now to help me later. Mostly because I have a little extra money at the moment
I disagree. Some people dont dose mag, some dose once a week, some dose daily. Mag can be ran from 1300 - 1500 and still be good. Let your alk bounce around from 8-10 and see what happens. Ime alk swings should be at most .2dkh per week, but I keep only sps. Other corals may tolerate more of a swingMagnesium matters just as much as alk and cal as well.
I disagree. Some people dont dose mag, some dose once a week, some dose daily. Mag can be ran from 1300 - 1500 and still be good. Let your alk bounce around from 8-10 and see what happens. Ime alk swings should be at most .2dkh per week, but I keep only sps. Other corals may tolerate more of a swing
I switch between a hanna checker and a salifert carbonate hardness test kit. I check my dkh every other day if not daily. Takes roughly 1 minute each timeHonestly I haven’t ever checked alk and don’t really know how
I agree alk swings are more harmful; I just meant mag should be included in testing just like alk and cal to insure the big 3 are in balance.I disagree. Some people dont dose mag, some dose once a week, some dose daily. Mag can be ran from 1300 - 1500 and still be good. Let your alk bounce around from 8-10 and see what happens. Ime alk swings should be at most .2dkh per week, but I keep only sps. Other corals may tolerate more of a swing
Stop dosing until the alk goes down then adjust your dose.So if I can a alk swing how do I stabilize it
Stop dosing until the alk goes down then adjust your dose.
The Hanna checker is the easiest tester I know of for alk, I use the ultra low range version
https://clearchoiceaquatics.com/collections/hanna-instruments-1