Dose or not?

[kathya0321]

Something is going on with my Duncan Corals, I have 3 heads and they have always looked good. Recently 2 of the heads will barely open and 1 looks like it dying. I tried moving them, dipping them and moving them again with no luck. These are my current readings, wondering if I should dose some Magnesium?

1.025 Salinity
8.3 PH
8.848 Alk
528 Ca
1240 mg
6.6 Nitrate
0.067 Phosphate ( I know a little high)

 

[blaxsun]

You could try getting the magnesium up to around 1350, but in my experience duncans like fairly moderate flow. So it's entirely possible they're either not getting enough light or flow - or the reverse. I have mine placed near the very top in my tank (they've never liked the substrate), so a relocation higher up might do the trick. It will take them a few days (or longer) to adjust though.

 

[vetteguy53081]

First thing to do is to get these off the sand bed in which sand can irritate them. They require moderate light and water flow and feeding twice a week- Mysis shrimp is a good food.
mag is in safe range however, CA is very high. . Should be 400-440 and Phos a little high ( <.04 is best)

What test kits are you using ?

Salinity- 1.025
temp 77-79
ph 8.1-8.3
alk - 8-11
mag 1300
Ca 400
nitrate < 12
Phos < .04
ammonia < .025

here are some of mine-

 

[Nigel35]

High calcium and low alk. Probably the beginning of brown jelly disease or polyp bailout. Ideally keep in a low to medium flow and work on fixing those elements.

 

[kathya0321]

First thing to do is to get these off the sand bed in which sand can irritate them. They require moderate light and water flow and feeding twice a week- Mysis shrimp is a good food.
mag is in safe range however, CA is very high. . Should be 400-440 and Phos a little high ( <.04 is best)

What test kits are you using ?

Salinity- 1.025
temp 77-79
ph 8.1-8.3
alk - 8-11
mag 1300
Ca 400
nitrate < 12
Phos < .04
ammonia < .025

here are some of mine-

I did have them glued to the rock and they were doing good, then just started not opening up. I moved them to 2 different places, after the dip I sat them in the sand last night. I don't know how to get my calcium lowered, I use Nutra Sea water as I only have a 16 gallon and don't want to deal with mixing salt. I would love some advice on how to lower my calcium, I can dose my alk and do a water change for the phosphates.

 

[kathya0321]

I did have them glued to the rock and they were doing good, then just started not opening up. I moved them to 2 different places, after the dip I sat them in the sand last night. I don't know how to get my calcium lowered, I use Nutra Sea water as I only have a 16 gallon and don't want to deal with mixing salt. I would love some advice on how to lower my calcium, I can dose my alk and do a water change for the phosphates.

I use Hanna Checkers for testing.

 

[Nigel35]

I did have them glued to the rock and they were doing good, then just started not opening up. I moved them to 2 different places, after the dip I sat them in the sand last night. I don't know how to get my calcium lowered, I use Nutra Sea water as I only have a 16 gallon and don't want to deal with mixing salt. I would love some advice on how to lower my calcium, I can dose my alk and do a water change for the phosphates.

To lower Calcium raise alkalinity and top off regularly with RO

 

[kathya0321]

To lower Calcium raise alkalinity and top off regularly with RO

Ok I will try raising the alkalinity , I am already topping off with RO water. Thank you.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I did have them glued to the rock and they were doing good, then just started not opening up. I moved them to 2 different places, after the dip I sat them in the sand last night. I don't know how to get my calcium lowered, I use Nutra Sea water as I only have a 16 gallon and don't want to deal with mixing salt. I would love some advice on how to lower my calcium, I can dose my alk and do a water change for the phosphates.

Lower calcium - Stop dosing until you reach safe levels otherwise a series if water changes.
Also test the Nutra Sea to see if the XCa is already high. Assure salinity is not elevated if yopu have not been adding any RO water to compensate for evaporation.
Duncans seem to do best at mid tank location

 

[kathya0321]

Lower calcium - Stop dosing until you reach safe levels otherwise a series if water changes.
Also test the Nutra Sea to see if the XCa is already high. Assure salinity is not elevated if yopu have not been adding any RO water to compensate for evaporation.
Duncans seem to do best at mid tank location

I don't dose Calcium at all, so far only Alk has been dosed. I have been topping off with RO/DI water from my LFS. The only change has been upgrading my lights from Bio Cube lights to Kessil A80 Tuna Blue about a week ago. If I remember right they were not extending before I changed the light.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I don't dose Calcium at all, so far only Alk has been dosed. I have been topping off with RO/DI water from my LFS. The only change has been upgrading my lights from Bio Cube lights to Kessil A80 Tuna Blue about a week ago. If I remember right they were not extending before I changed the light.

Ok, with no dosing of such, assure the Nutra sea is not high in calcium before you use it
What test kits are you using ?
Lowering CA must be done Slowly. If your CA level is too high in your tank, you may run the risk of your alk getting too low. The problem with this is that it affects the buffering capabilities of the water, which in turn affects the pH levels.

 

[kathya0321]

Ok, with no dosing of such, assure the Nutra sea is not high in calcium before you use it
What test kits are you using ?
Lowering CA must be done Slowly. If your CA level is too high in your tank, you may run the risk of your alk getting too low. The problem with this is that it affects the buffering capabilities of the water, which in turn affects the pH levels.

So I dosed Alk yesterday and my readings today are:

Alk 9.598
Cal 523

So the calcium only dropped 5, should I dose Alk again or wait and check again tomorrow?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I would not dose anything with those parameters, and if you raise the salinity to 35 ppt (sg = 1.0264), magnesium will be above NSW levels.

 

[kathya0321]

I would not dose anything with those parameters, and if you raise the salinity to 35 ppt (sg = 1.0264), magnesium will be above NSW levels.

I'm just worried about my Calcium being so high, I thought raising alkalinity would help bring it down. Any thoughts on my Calcium level?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'm just worried about my Calcium being so high, I thought raising alkalinity would help bring it down. Any thoughts on my Calcium level?

Calcium will pan out. As mentioned and also by Randy- Cease any dosing. What youre doing is chasing numbers and it will end in disaster.

 

[kathya0321]

Calcium will pan out. As mentioned and also by Randy- Cease any dosing. What youre doing is chasing numbers and it will end in disaster.

Ok thank you

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm just worried about my Calcium being so high, I thought raising alkalinity would help bring it down. Any thoughts on my Calcium level?

Your calcium is fine. Just don't add more.