Coraline

[cjsparky]

Coraline TRYING to grow, but not making much in terms of headway...

Should I begin to test for calcium and dose? I only have a few frags, and do 30 Gallon WC's every 2-3 weeks. 125 Gallon tank with about 30G sump volume...Just ran out of salt, so about to switch to AV Salinity.

Thanks for the advice!

CJ

 

[mvm]

Watch Cal Alk and Mag. If you keep them in acceptable ranges, it will grow readily.

 

[cjsparky]

Ugh that's alot of money for test kits...I thought this hobby was supposed to be cheap!

;-p

CJ

 

[ichthyoid]

Cjsparky;500649 wrote: Ugh that's alot of money for test kits...I thought this hobby was supposed to be cheap!

;-p

CJ

Where did you hear that? While you often don't have to buy the most expensive items, it's definitely not cheap. With test kits, you pretty much get what you pay for.

 

[mapleredta]

Cheap? LOL Get somebody to scrape their glass and crush their coraline and spread it over your rocks.

 

[snowmansnow]

IMO don't fret about coraline.. it just gives you something ELSE to scrape off your tank!

B

 

[gmpolan]

Yeah, i have very little and im not even concerned...just one more thing to clean

 

[ichthyoid]

Cjsparky;500645 wrote: Coraline TRYING to grow, but not making much in terms of headway...

Should I begin to test for calcium and dose? I only have a few frags, and do 30 Gallon WC's every 2-3 weeks. 125 Gallon tank with about 30G sump volume...Just ran out of salt, so about to switch to AV Salinity.

Thanks for the advice!

CJ

Per your question re: calcium, it looks as though you are doing almost 40% water changes ~monthly with only a few frags. You should be good on the calcium, though it never hurts to monitor levels either.

Dosing and monitoring magnesium levels may help also. It is often the difference between living and thriving corals, as well as coraline algae. Magnesium helps the calcium be 'available' to these organisms, and salts may have low levels of it.

 

[ichthyoid]

Here is an excellent article by one of the current thought leaders of aquarium chemistry, Randy Holmes-Farley, PhD. You may already know of him. Comprehensive, technical, but thorough. A good refernce article-IMO. Hope this is of some help.

 

[gnashty]

ichthyoid;500716 wrote: Here is an excellent article by one of the current thought leaders of aquarium chemistry, Randy Holmes-Farley, PhD. You may already know of him. Comprehensive, technical, but thorough. A good refernce article-IMO. Hope this is of some help.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/">http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/</a>[/QUOTE]

Good reading right there brother

 

[drnecropolis]

Cjsparky;500649 wrote: I thought this hobby was supposed to be cheap!

;-p

CJ

How the hell did I miss that memo?!?

 

[ichthyoid]

DrNecropolis;500738 wrote: How the hell did I miss that memo?!?

:dunno: I guess most of us must have Doc. The rest are liars :lol2:

 

[jennm]

I missed that memo too. I've gone 25 years under the impression it was rather expensive...

Good water quality, along with sufficient amounts of calcium and magnesium. That and a starter scraping (the cheap part) or some rock with good coralline already on it would also be a benefit.

Jenn

 

[brianjfinn]

ichthyoid;500716 wrote: Here is an excellent article by one of the current thought leaders of aquarium chemistry, Randy Holmes-Farley, PhD. You may already know of him. Comprehensive, technical, but thorough. A good refernce article-IMO. Hope this is of some help.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/">http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/</a>[/QUOTE]

Call me a nerd, but I have this article printed out and keep it in my nightstand for quick reference. I probably look at it at least once a month just to keep it fresh in my brain.

 

[cjsparky]

;-p = sarcasm...

 

[cjsparky]

But not mean sarcasm...sarcasm as in saying something that is totally rediculous, like this hobby is cheap

Will grab some test kits next time I am at the store!

CJ

 

[ichthyoid]

Cjsparky;500814 wrote: But not mean sarcasm...sarcasm as in saying something that is totally rediculous, like this hobby is cheap

Will grab some test kits next time I am at the store!

CJ

Go it

If anything, we are poking some fun at ourselves for all of our mistakes and wasted money along the way. We are here to help you and each other.