Softies Question
 

What do you all use to increase the speed of your soft coral growth. I am looking to speed the growth of my toad stoals, frog spawn, green hammer coral, & brain

Re: Softies Question
 

. . . patience :mrgreen:

you can target feed the LPS

But no . . . seriously if you want your corals to "grow faster" . . . my only option is target feed LPS with cyclopeeze, the use of phytoplankton, better or brighter lighting and of course crystal clear water parameters . . . . JME.

Also make sure you test and balance alkalinity, calcium and magnesium. These are the three major components for proper reef chemistry stability. Links for more info on reef chemistry:

Aquarium System Volume Calculator:

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/volcalc.html

The Reef Chemistry Calculator:

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

Reef Aquarium Water Parameters:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

Magnesium in Reef Aquaria:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2003/chem.htm

Solving Calcium and Alkalinity Problems:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

doesn't iodine and magnesium help with softies?

this stuff gives me a headache.. just when you think that CA and Alk is all you need to keep things in check.. there's more fun stuff to balance out like magnesium .. and iodine! whooooo I love Science!!!! :mrgreen: not

Two articles on iodine:

Iodine in Marine Aquaria: Part I:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2003/chem.htm

Iodine in Reef Tanks 2: Effects on Macroalgae Growth:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...l2003/chem.htm

Personally, I don't test for iodine, though I do test for alk, Mg and Ca regularly and adjust levels when they are off. If lack of iodine is the limiting factor in the growth of some organisms in my tanks, I accept that, especially after reading the first article.