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Originally Posted by Willito
With adequate lighting and current already, don't you think that increasing Ca to 450ppm would increase growth more rapidly?
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Actually, no, not really.
Alkalinity is really more important when you get into these kinds of numbers.
Think of Ca as the measure of how much building blocks for which to make growth, but alkalinity as the measure of how much of those building blocks can actually be used. If you have a big pile of 2x4's ("Ca") you're going to be able to do more with those 2x4's if you actually have a hammer and some nails and a saw or stuff ("Alk"). Maybe that's not the best analogy but it's the best I could come up with.
A system with 350ppm Ca and 3.5 meq/L alk is going to have considerably better growth of SPS and other Ca drawing critters than a system with 450ppm Ca and 2.0 meq/L alk. Actually there won't be any comparison.
What sort of alkalinity do you have right now?