Slow Growth

[CHEMCHEF]

My corals seem to grow at a very slow rate. I 2 part dose 4-5 days a week. Spot feed 2-4 times a week. My bulbs are a little old. Could this be a growth problem. I always thought it was more of a coloration problem.
HELP

I have a mixed reef. Mostly lps + some sps

 

[Mr. Softy]

Water parameters, lighting, flow rate. Parameters being the most important imo. Just a guess without knowing your tank specs.:beer:

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Params are good. Everything zero PH 8.3-4 Depending on time of day. Never tested for Calcium.
I just scaled down on my powerheads. I have a mag 7 for my return (1- dual locline) and had a korallia 4 & 3. I just shut down the 3- 2 days ago and finally my zoas opened.
Could I have had too much flow? I thought that was not really possible.
BTW Tank is a 72 bow. 100+ lbs live rock, 2x150 MH 10,000k 2 54w t-5 actinic plus, sump, fuge, Urchin Skimmer (that is kicking some serious buttoks)
Light on 7-8 hrs.
I'm thinking of changing my light cycle to 4 hrs. twice a day 8-12am, 8-12pm

 

[DevIouS]

Params are good. Never tested for Calcium.

If you don't test cal, alk & mag, you don't know if your parameters are good.

Lighting is not the major part of the puzzle.

Twice a day?
Where did you get that idea?

 

[CHEMCHEF]

I'm only doing this like 10 mos. So I still have alot to learn. I guess I will start testing for cal, alk, & mag.
Is it very difficult to correct said params?
I guess I thought 2 part was taking care of the alk, cal. I do 10% water changes with TM pro reef. Weekly
Twice a day lighting I read about on mr about a month ago.

If you don't test cal, alk & mag, you don't know if your parameters are good.

Lighting is not the major part of the puzzle.

Twice a day?
Where did you get that idea?

 

[DevIouS]

Thing is...
If you are dosing 2 part & not testing, how do you know when you are adding too much or too little or know how much your coral is using up?
This is something that must be balanced out & kept in the proper range.
Magnesium plays a role in both Cal & Alk.



Oh &..
The sun doesn't come up twice a day.....

 

[gcfishreef]

Oh &..
The sun doesn't come up twice a day.....

LOL
where hes from it does....LOL:tongueani

 

[chargher]

Thing is...
If you are dosing 2 part & not testing, how do you know when you are adding too much or too little or know how much your coral is using up?
This is something that must be balanced out & kept in the proper range.
Magnesium plays a role in both Cal & Alk.



Oh &..
The sun doesn't come up twice a day.....

lol

 

[TOTAL AQUARIUMS]

Chem stop using the pro reef. You're throwing away extra money on a product that isn't necessary. Whoever told you the pro reef was the best salt is not your friend and has no idea what they are talking about.

 

[jhart]

If you don't test cal, alk & mag, you don't know if your parameters are good.

Lighting is not the major part of the puzzle.

Twice a day?
Where did you get that idea?

AHHH HA.. Levels at Zero ? Devious is 100 % correct.
check ur cal, alk and mag...

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Oh &..
The sun doesn't come up twice a day.....

I'm just kicking around some ideas to increase growth rate, that I read about on MR. It's not like I came up with this idea.
It does however work on some plants, So it seems plausable to me.

 

[DevIouS]

Don't focus on my attempt at humor...
The true advice was above that comment.


You might have read that random post here on MR, but I never heard of it.
If it was a proven method, you would see alot a of experienced reefers promoting it.

 

[CHEMCHEF]

I'm not focusing on that at all, I appreciate all the help I have been given along the way on MR.
Everybody seems to say that the time of day you have your lights on does not matter. For instance. My lights go on @ 6pm til 1am because I leave for work at 10am and get home about 11pm or 12am. So this allows me to see the tank & feed when I get home.
So by this rational, I thought maybe I could squeeze 2 days out of 1 if corals and fish dont know what time of day it is.
It just does not seem that crazy to me.
There is also a school of thought that most corals can't utilize more than 4 hrs. of light at a time, and I have noticed on my days off that after about 4 hrs. corals seem a little less extended than say: 2 hrs. into the light cycle.

Don't focus on my attempt at humor...
The true advice was above that comment.


You might have read that random post here on MR, but I never heard of it.
If it was a proven method, you would see alot a of experienced reefers promoting it.

 

[DevIouS]

Everybody seems to say that the time of day you have your lights on does not matter.

....if corals and fish dont know what time of day it is.

It doesn't & I didn't say otherwise..

Yes, there are some fish that will get confused as they have what we sometimes call an "internal clock" (i.e. some wrasses).


Let's get back to topic. As I mentioned before lighting is not the major part of reefing.

Thing is...
If you are dosing 2 part & not testing, how do you know when you are adding too much or too little or know how much your coral is using up?
This is something that must be balanced out & kept in the proper range.
Magnesium plays a role in both Cal & Alk.

 

[CHEMCHEF]

What should be the levels for
cal:
Alk:
Mag:
And I'm guessing Sailifert test kits?

 

[jschottenfeld]

Calcium can range from 350 to 450. I like to aim for 420. I was using the two part for a while on my reef but found it difficult to maintain a balanced alkalinity, that's why I switched to a calcium reactor. The reactors do a great job of balancing alk to calc. You shouldn't use it to raise calc, just balance it.

Mag is required in order to raise or maintain your calc level. A good range for Mag is between 1350 and 1500.

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Thank You

Calcium can range from 350 to 450. I like to aim for 420. I was using the two part for a while on my reef but found it difficult to maintain a balanced alkalinity, that's why I switched to a calcium reactor. The reactors do a great job of balancing alk to calc. You shouldn't use it to raise calc, just balance it.

Mag is required in order to raise or maintain your calc level. A good range for Mag is between 1350 and 1500.