Frogspawn not Extended.

[OrangeCountyReefer]

Would you mind sharing your AI schedule? I’m not sure where I can find what power it’s running at. I just finished a 30 day 50% acclimation and just started a new 30 day at 75% acclimation. Here’s what my schedule looks like:

That might be a little too high on a shallow small tank like the Nuvo 20, also your photo period is almost 14 hours total. People really over exaggerate the lighting requirements for a lot of these corals. I’ve been running this schedule on my lagoon forever now and my growth has been steady on everything. High light will kill a coral much quicker than low light.

 

[OrangeCountyReefer]

I had mine on sandbed when they were frags and they were sulking. Low par and water flow. I brought them up 3" and here are my many colonies now:

Definitely look good and healthy. Was just saying I’ve kee colonies on the sandbed no problem!

 

[Rmckoy]

Your alk is low too around 9.00 would be better

Alk is 7.12dkh
Multiply ppm x 0.056

 

[OrangeCountyReefer]

Alk is 7.12dkh
Multiply ppm x 0.056

Lol exactly, his alk is 7.12 and around 9 would be better.. ??

 

[Rmckoy]

Lol exactly, his alk is 7.12 and around 9 would be better.. ??

I keep mine at 7-7.5 and everything is happy .
Stability is always more important ?

 

[Rmckoy]

Lol exactly, his alk is 7.12 and around 9 would be better.. ??

If alk is better at 9
What should calcium be at to balance ?
Is there a ratio or percentage ?
alk , cal and mag ?

 

[OrangeCountyReefer]

I keep mine at 7-7.5 and everything is happy .
Stability is always more important ?

Yes but not when you are trying to grow corals that have stony skeletons. It has been proven that growth in stony based corals is significantly reduced when the alkalinity in a tank is constantly below 8.

 

[Rmckoy]

Yes but not when you are trying to grow corals that have stony skeletons. It has been proven that growth in stony based corals is significantly reduced when the alkalinity in a tank is constantly below 8.

So a system with mostly sps acros grows slower with alk <8 ?

 

[OrangeCountyReefer]

So a system with mostly sps acros grows slower with alk <8 ?

That is correct. Also most LPS, especially euphyllia have stony bases that grow with the coral as they get bigger and grow more heads. My LPS dominant tank uses a very a large amount of alk. I dose daily to keep it up, also dose cal and mag as well. I keep my calcium around 440 and mag around 1400.

 

[Rmckoy]

That is correct. Also most LPS, especially euphyllia have stony bases that grow with the coral as they get bigger and grow more heads. My LPS dominant tank uses a very a large amount of alk. I dose daily to keep it up, also dose cal and mag as well. I keep my calcium around 440 and mag around 1400.

I must be doing something wrong .

I have maintained a stable 425 cal
7.5 alk up until 2 days ago and noticed heavier consumption and alk dropped to 7dkh
Dosing to bring it back up .
i have mainly all sps with a few lps .
mall acros have encrusted , plates and encrusting montis have taken off with growth since being stable .

I do agree , higher alk grows faster , but all I was saying is 9 isn’t always better .
Staying with one being stable is best !

 

[OrangeCountyReefer]

I must be doing something wrong .

I have maintained a stable 425 cal
7.5 alk up until 2 days ago and noticed heavier consumption and alk dropped to 7dkh
Dosing to bring it back up .
i have mainly all sps with a few lps .
mall acros have encrusted , plates and encrusting montis have taken off with growth since being stable .

I do agree , higher alk grows faster , but all I was saying is 9 isn’t always better .
Staying with one being stable is best !

It’s all relative to what you are trying to accomplish. There really isn’t any “wrong” here but if you asked a 100 experienced reefers what they maintain their alk most would say between 8 and 10. I know a torch most likely won’t grow multiple new heads in a year with alk at 7

 

[Saluki2003]

That is correct. Also most LPS, especially euphyllia have stony bases that grow with the coral as they get bigger and grow more heads. My LPS dominant tank uses a very a large amount of alk. I dose daily to keep it up, also dose cal and mag as well. I keep my calcium around 440 and mag around 1400.

What doser do you use?

 

[Saluki2003]

That might be a little too high on a shallow small tank like the Nuvo 20, also your photo period is almost 14 hours total. People really over exaggerate the lighting requirements for a lot of these corals. I’ve been running this schedule on my lagoon forever now and my growth has been steady on everything. High light will kill a coral much quicker than low light.

Would having low level blues running in the morning/evening added onto a schedule like yours make the photo period too long? Something like this:

 

[OrangeCountyReefer]

Would having low level blues running in the morning/evening added onto a schedule like yours make the photo period too long? Something like this:

Low levels in the morning are fine, what you have there now looks pretty good. And you can gradually raise the output overtime if you begin to add more high light demand corals, blue is always gonna be the most important. Almost every LPS coral will do well with 100 to 200 par. Ive been running my tank at the schedule you seen the entire time and it has been great. If ours tank were deeper we would have to raise the output. I will email you my schedule when I get home today.

 

[Saluki2003]

Low levels in the morning are fine, what you have there now looks pretty good. And you can gradually raise the output overtime if you begin to add more high light demand corals, blue is always gonna be the most important. Almost every LPS coral will do well with 100 to 200 par. Ive been running my tank at the schedule you seen the entire time and it has been great. If ours tank were deeper we would have to raise the output. I will email you my schedule when I get home today.

Awesome...thank you so much for the advice!

Which dosing pump/system are you using?

 

[Saluki2003]

It’s fine. Frogspawn are weird and close up more than other euphyllia from time to time, probably just pooping. 0 nitrates is not ideal for euphyllia, definitely wanna raise them .

So I picked up a Salifert nitrate test kit and it came back as zero as well.

Right now my 2 media baskets look like this:
Floss/Purigen/Matrix
Floss/Chemipure nano/Carbon

Am I overfiltering or underfeeding?

 

[OrangeCountyReefer]

So I picked up a Salifert nitrate test kit and it came back as zero as well.

Right now my 2 media baskets look like this:
Floss/Purigen/Matrix
Floss/Chemipure nano/Carbon

Am I overfiltering or underfeeding?

How many fish do you have in the tank and how often are you feeding

 

[Saluki2003]

2 clowns and feeding every other day. I think I may have some dinoflagellates now. I took the Chemipure and Purigen out and bumped feeding to daily. I’ll test every other day this week to keep an eye on my nitrates.

 

[OrangeCountyReefer]

2 clowns and feeding every other day. I think I may have some dinoflagellates now. I took the Chemipure and Purigen out and bumped feeding to daily. I’ll test every other day this week to keep an eye on my nitrates.

Just starting feed more, multiple times a day if you have too. Your fish will appreciate and it will raise your nitrates and phosphates. Dinos usually will only happen in low nutrient environments. And corals don’t do well in clean tanks.

 

[Saluki2003]

Yeah my nitrates and phosphates were high after the tank cycled and I think I went overboard on bringing my nutrients down.