Your #'s for growth

[Riderc82]

Ok this is for the people who are running systems geared toward SPS corals.  I want to know what you personally shoot for when it comes to calcium, alkalinity and magnesium?  I see growth pictures on here that make me sick 

[Reefd Up]

Ca:  450
Mag:  1350
Alk:  10 dkh

That's what I shoot for anyway.  Usually my numbers end up more along Ca: 400, Mag: 1200, Alk:  8 dkh. 

[lilleigh]

Well what I shoot for, and what I have are two different things

Mag: 1300,
CA: 580-600
Alk: 6-7DKH
PH: a never changing 8.3

I have ridiculous growth, measurable in days, not months hehe.

[Reefd Up]

Ahh!!...what salt are you using/what are you dosing to have CA that high?  No precipitates???

[cyberwollf]

Ahh!!...what salt are you using/what are you dosing to have CA that high?  No precipitates???

With the alk so low that calc doesnt seem totally crazy, Although Alk plays a big role in calcification also so I wouldn't think your growth would be above average.  Can you create a thread in Member Tank Profiles section, lilleigh?  I;d love to see all your tanks and your breeding setup.

[lilleigh]

I use Kent salt with a Kalk drip.

Cyberwolf: Believe it not, I have incredible growth. Its all about the balanced equation. PH has more effect on growth than ALK. Alk is a measure of buffering capacity, not the PH of the water.

With these numbers everything is balanced. Checked with API and Salifirt test kits. Same numbers each!

[cyberwollf]

I use Kent salt with a Kalk drip.

Cyberwolf: Believe it not, I have incredible growth. Its all about the balanced equation. PH has more effect on growth than ALK. Alk is a measure of buffering capacity, not the PH of the water.

With these numbers everything is balanced. Checked with API and Salifirt test kits. Same numbers each!

Im not denying that you have good growth.  There are lot of reasons for growth rates (probably many not even understood yet).  I run into the same issue using only Kalk (low alk high Cal).  Do you have any particular reason for shooting for 580+ cal levels.  When i let my cal get above 500 it usualy has my alk driven down to the low 7s also.

[Riderc82]

Cal-385
Alk- 9.3
Mag- 1250
PH- 8.3

I added some mag today, I recently switched to Kent salt as well and I believe it lowered my mag.  I'm going to attempt to raise my calcium and alk levels closer to what the fresh mixed kent measures at from the bucket (cal-540  alk-11).  lilleigh wonder how you alk is so low my Kent salt is running 11 Dkh out of the bucket?  Do you drip kalk aggressively?

[CoralBeauties]

Lets not forget there are a ton of other things involved with growth then just your numbers.  My corals look great with good polyp extension but my growth rates are slower then I would like with all my numbers in the good range.  I run 20k lighting which, while looks great will cause slower growth.  
Jeff

[lilleigh]

Im not denying that you have good growth.  There are lot of reasons for growth rates (probably many not even understood yet).  I run into the same issue using only Kalk (low alk high Cal).  Do you have any particular reason for shooting for 580+ cal levels.  When i let my cal get above 500 it usualy has my alk driven down to the low 7s also.

No reason. CA above 440 or so won't help growth at all. But when everything is in balance, I have no reason to complain. It works for me. I didn't work toward these numbers. It just kind a happened, but it is working, and well at that.

[lilleigh]

Cal-385
Alk- 9.3
Mag- 1250
PH- 8.3

I added some mag today, I recently switched to Kent salt as well and I believe it lowered my mag.  I'm going to attempt to raise my calcium and alk levels closer to what the fresh mixed kent measures at from the bucket (cal-540  alk-11).  lilleigh wonder how you alk is so low my Kent salt is running 11 Dkh out of the bucket?  Do you drip kalk aggressively?

I mix 2 tablespoons of Mrs Wages lime with 5G of water, and refill daily.

Do you airate your water, then salt for 24 hours? Try that, and then test it. I also change 30G of water twice a week. This is on a 300G system.

[Riderc82]

honestly all I do is take my room temperature RO/DI water dump 15 gallons into my saltwater trashcan, throw in the pump and heater and about 8 hours later I check the salinity and temperature and dump it into the aquarium.  I usually don't test my fresh mixed water for Cal, Alk or Mag.  I have never been able to get my fresh saltwater to match the aquarium water in cal,alk or mag.  If you think this method is bad you should of seen me a couple of years ago I added 2.5 cups of salt to my five gallon water drinking container shook it like a caveman  a couple of times a day and then I added it to my system. 

[lazylivin]

Here is what I shoot for.
Ca:  425 - 450
Mag:  1300 - 1350
Alk:  9-10 dkh
PH 8.1 - 8.2
Phosphates .02 - .03
Nitrates 0

For me the best thing for color has been to keep it in the same place and not move it around in the tank. It sometimes takes 3-4 months to get decent color after acclimation.

[Riderc82]

Lets not forget there are a ton of other things involved with growth then just your numbers.  My corals look great with good polyp extension but my growth rates are slower then I would like with all my numbers in the good range.  I run 20k lighting which, while looks great will cause slower growth. 
Jeff

I run XM 20k's I love them, I tried the XM 10k's but I switched back in less than two months so maybe next time I will try the Phoenix 14k's.

[lilleigh]

Here is what I shoot for.
Ca:  425 - 450
Mag:  1300 - 1350
Alk:  9-10 dkh
PH 8.1 - 8.2
Phosphates .02 - .03
Nitrates 0

For me the best thing for color has been to keep it in the same place and not move it around in the tank. It sometimes takes 3-4 months to get decent color after acclimation.

Stability is the number on key to success if you ask me. Followed by number two, patience...

[jd]

Stability is the number on key to success if you ask me. Followed by number two, patience...

+1

[Wall_Tank]

I run XM 20k's I love them, I tried the XM 10k's but I switched back in less than two months so maybe next time I will try the Phoenix 14k's.

If you like the 20k.  I think the Phoenix are still going to be too yellow for your taste.   Can you supplement with a t5 Actinic bulb for your blues?

[Wall_Tank]

CA = 450-470
Alk = 8-10
Mg = 1400-1500 
ph = 8.0-8.2
No3 = 0
Phosphate = 0.03 (last time lazy checked for me)
Flow - Flow -Flow - I have a Tunze 6000, a Vortech MPW40, and still one Maxijet1200/w Propeller conversion.

[Riderc82]

If you like the 20k.  I think the Phoenix are still going to be too yellow for your taste.   Can you supplement with a t5 Actinic bulb for your blues?

Unfortunately I run the PFO Parallel reflectors they take up the whole canopy on my 90 gallon. 

[Wall_Tank]

I have a 90 with PFO mini-pendants(DE Bulb).  Gives me room for 3 t5-s

[Riderc82]

I must of missed the last post do you have a picture of your lighting layout Wall_Tank

[HUNGER]

i dont even know what my numbers are i use to test but it drove me nut  cuz i would test allmost every day cuz the was allways something that wasnt were it should be

[reefman]

I no longer test!

[ohioreef]

I mix 2 tablespoons of Mrs Wages lime with 5G of water, and refill daily.

Is that 2TBs per gallon or 2TBs in 5 g?

My understanding is you can get 2TBs/g and that's saturated. That's what I use.

[~reefchik~]

I'm encouraged to see those Ca numbers,  I was afraid mine were too high. 

I've never tested Magnesium, but have a new test kit on the way. 

What I "shoot for" and what I'm able to maintain are two different things.
I get my info from several sources as to what's optimum, but I've been aiming for:

Ca:  420-450
pH:  8.2 - 8.4
Alk:  8
N03:  zero or about
P04:  zero or about