Alkalinity Stability
- Thread starter Maho.B
- Start date
- Tagged users None
But your tank is close coraline is key, if you choose to put in live rock just a piece or two small or get the live sand booster kit from Hawaii
OP are you adding established frags, encrusted on the plug? I only ask because fresh cut frags not encrusting have been a crap shoot for me and I've lost more than I won. I no longer buy anything fresh cut.
VintageReefer
10K Club member
I always avoid fresh cut and try to get frags healed and encrusting.
I bought this Millie frag recently, encrusted on the plug. It was shipped, and arrived full color and had polyps out on arrival and every day since. This is the only way I’ll buy frags.
I never had luck with a stick in a wad of glue
Ya I think they need to heal in the environment the colony was in to be successful, at least IME. I got burned on a bunch of cut to order frags once. Learned my lessonI always avoid fresh cut and try to get frags healed and encrusting.
I bought this Millie frag recently, encrusted on the plug. It was shipped, and arrived full color and had polyps out on arrival and every day since. This is the only way I’ll buy frags.
I never had luck with a stick in a wad of glue
OP
OP
Maho.B
Community Member
Hmmm...good to know about fresh cut vs healed. Mine have been 50/50 some totally encrusting the plug, some literally cut off the colony at the store and I glue them to the rock work immediately, and none of those have worked.
I will look into getting a piece or two of real live rock. For what it's worth, I had a reef tank in the late 80's and early 90's as a kid before leaving from college. That whole tank was set up with a plenum (circa Sprung) and all Fiji liverock from a local store. I had it for 6 years, never had weird algae problems, never lost coral or fish and never had the horror story hitchhiker (I admit it may have been luck?). Contrast that with today and the seeding of bacteria and the dry rock and all that stuff my experience has been quite different this go around. I will say however there are way more Coral varieties available now than when I was in it way back then.
Either way, I'm glad I got back into the hobby and hopefully I can get through this hump of issues. Thanks
I will look into getting a piece or two of real live rock. For what it's worth, I had a reef tank in the late 80's and early 90's as a kid before leaving from college. That whole tank was set up with a plenum (circa Sprung) and all Fiji liverock from a local store. I had it for 6 years, never had weird algae problems, never lost coral or fish and never had the horror story hitchhiker (I admit it may have been luck?). Contrast that with today and the seeding of bacteria and the dry rock and all that stuff my experience has been quite different this go around. I will say however there are way more Coral varieties available now than when I was in it way back then.
Either way, I'm glad I got back into the hobby and hopefully I can get through this hump of issues. Thanks
I agree with this.
Stability is key but having a elevated ph 8.3ish will help buffer any swing drastically.
Alk 7-13 is just fine as long as it is a stable level.
OP
OP
Maho.B
Community Member
Thanks. Dumb question here, I test regularly for alk, calc, magnesium, nitrate, phosphate, salinity, and temp. I was told by LFS I didn't need to test for pH because if I kept my others in check (mainly alk) the pH would be fine. Is this wrong? Should I be testing my pH regularly?
Correct ph around 8to 8.3 is good,these days reefers focus on ph around 8.3
People with calcium reactors closely watch ph more.
But tested ph once a week is enough once you have everything else dialed in
People with calcium reactors closely watch ph more.
But tested ph once a week is enough once you have everything else dialed in
bakbay
Valuable Member
I agree. My tank is 3+ years old and I've had much higher success rate with encrusted frags over fresh cut ones.
However, I have some "high-end" encrusted frags that have not grown since the day I got 'em...2 YEARS ago! They are healthy, got decent color, PE -- but haven't grown a cm - totally frustrating. Other SPS frags & colonies are growing like weeds. Can't explain why...(shrug)
VintageReefer
10K Club member
I’ve had the same experience in the past
I grew a 1” Millie frag into this over the course of about 12-14 months
And in the same time frame this Garf bonsai grew from a dual 1” nug…into an encrusted dual 1” nug
Polyps were out everyday. All other sps were also growing fine. This purple bonsai just never wanted to grow
niceI’ve had the same experience in the past
I grew a 1” Millie frag into this over the course of about 12-14 months
And in the same time frame this Garf bonsai grew from a dual 1” nug…into an encrusted dual 1” nug
Polyps were out everyday. All other sps were also growing fine. This purple bonsai just never wanted to grow
