Mixed Tank - Nutrition upkeep and growth?

[drcrook]

Hey Folks,

Im putting together a new 150 build. Ive got a 10 gal ATO I intend to put kalk in for a while before bumping to a crushed coral reactor in probably a year after established.

Will kalk be enough?
What are a few good starter sps and lps that grow fast to give the tank a more established feel? Ill bump to slower growers, but trying to avoid frags only for like 2 years

thanks!

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Hey Folks,

Im putting together a new 150 build. Ive got a 10 gal ATO I intend to put kalk in for a while before bumping to a crushed coral reactor in probably a year after established.

Will kalk be enough?
What are a few good starter sps and lps that grow fast to give the tank a more established feel? Ill bump to slower growers, but trying to avoid frags only for like 2 years

thanks!

Kalk will probably not be enough depending on how frequently you do wc’s and how many pieces you want. Birdsnest, monti’s, and stylos are all pretty fast growing sps. Pretty much everything in the euphyllia family of lps grow pretty quickly as well. Trumpets, chalices , and micromussa’s are also pretty good growers.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

A tank can go far with kalk only if you run the kalk the right way, I would worry about kalk not keeping up once it actually happens.

 

[drcrook]

If kalk stops keeping up, how detrimental to the corals is it? Do they stop growing or do they start dying?

 

[boacvh]

If kalk stops keeping up, how detrimental to the corals is it? Do they stop growing or do they start dying?

They don't need to die, or even be detrimental to them. Once kalk stops keeping up you need to add alk/ca in some other way. I started with just kalk for almost a year. Then moved to 2 part dosing once my kalk couldn't keep up anymore. As long as you are measuring your alk, you'll be able to tell when your kalk is no longer enough to maintain and can switch or complement with another method. (i.e your reactor)