Need some basic help

[Plunder]

Hi, reefers,

I just have a few questions. My tank has been depleting calcium at a fast pace. It seems to be consuming about 20-40 ppm a day. Will this eventually level out? I figure it might be due to the Coraline algae trying to take hold and is sucking it up along with my corals. I did some google searches but was hoping to see what the community thought. My parameters right now are Cal 400, Alk 9, Salinity 1.025-1.026, Mag 1400, ammo 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0. I have a Fluval 13.5g running for a little more than a month with 2 small clowns, small fire dart goby, a scarlet cleaner shrimp, a peppermint shrimp, 6 micro hermits, 12 snails 2 species, mama mia worms, 6 micro stars, a chiton and a bunch of pods lives in the garden and rock. I also planted some sea grapes and some type of red macroalgae (got from IPSF). I also have two small stony corals, GSP, and two leather mushrooms with some zoas and some Coraline algae boosting tiles.

So my questions are. Calcium leveling, is that something that happens over time? Is it normal for new tanks with a dry, un-cured rock to be a calcium drain, and do levels eventually level out? Next, I have a scarlet shrimp that has been MIA for a week, since adding new things. Is that normal behavior? Molting? I feared something happened to him, but I thought I'd see his corpse. Anyone experience this at all? Also, my GSP after the hydro soak still hasn't opened up in 4 days. My girlfriend thinks I killed it, but it looks great, just not open. Anyone of having any experience how long this might take to recover? I used half tank water and half hydrogen P 3% for 2 mins. The LFS sold me it and it had some algae on it so I had to clean it... I really need some help, thank you!!

Please feel free to critique my setup as well. This is my first saltwater tank and I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing. Don't hold back, I would love to hear any feedback at all.

 

[Jvalle]

Hi the calcium will stabilize as well as alk somewhat as rocks and tanks mature. Try to stay in 420 to 440 calc level. As far as the setup of rocks I am a fan of caves but as you have limited space it may not be an option. Thx

 

[Cell]

Better supplemental feed that CUC or expect some death.

 

[Plunder]

Better supplemental feed that CUC or expect some death.

Hey Cell. I thought the same thing and tried to give my girlfriends kid some of the snails and hermits, but she has other plans for her tank. Kind of glad I didn't though because the hermits are really fun to watch, but the snails do seem to reproducing already.

I've been feeding a mix of mysis and brine shrimp in the evening and feed them full spec thera+a pellets (responsibly) in the morning. Do you have any suggestions? I would hate to lose the crew.

 

[Plunder]

Hi the calcium will stabilize as well as alk somewhat as rocks and tanks mature. Try to stay in 420 to 440 calc level. As far as the setup of rocks I am a fan of caves but as you have limited space it may not be an option. Thx

I've been dosing calcium (brightlabs) every day for the last week because it keeps getting sucked up. I'm having a hard time keeping up to the level I want, without over-dosing. I figure I can do about 6ml every 24hr. Which will raise it about 30-40ppm, but I'm losing that daily. I appreciate your input.

 

[Cell]

Nori works great or algae pellets/wafers too. Or whatever pellets you already have, just make sure the CUC is getting some until your tank matures a bit and even then it's probably more CUC than you will ever need.

 

[Plunder]

Nori works great or algae pellets/wafers too. Or whatever pellets you already have, just make sure the CUC is getting some until your tank matures a bit, and even then it's probably more CUC than you will ever need.

Would the cleanup crew eat the macroalgae at all? I've seen the pods eat it, but not sure about shrimp, hermits, and snails. I've seen the hermits eat the recently dead pods, though. So I assume the shrimp might do the same? I googled the nori and came across this "Easy Masstick" by easy reefs. It seems like a great product. Though my first thought was recreating the "Hunger Games" and sticking a small piece in the middle. Seriously though, has anyone tried it?