I would like a coral: comments suggestions

[BCReefer]

After the holiday’s I would like to add a hard coral, maybe.

I do not have any sort of Calcium drip or such thing and my pocket book will not allow for big dollars to be spent. My tank is in my front room so I can’t have a drip using gravity feed since I have nothing higher than the tank near it.

If I only have 1 hard coral what equipment do I need and what coral would you suggest. I would like a frag. if you have one. I prefer not to be spending 30 minutes each night making up mixture if possible, since at the moment I am very busy.

Of course I will be reading up on this. Always paranoid about being flame, but then this is nor RC or other forums [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

I can wait if the poll is no; you need equipment.
[img]images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]

[ 11 December 2001: Message edited by: BCReefer ]

[Delphinus]

BCReefer,

(Not that this thread has anything to do with your original question anymore...) [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

Sight unseen I have my doubts that your carpet is S. gigantea if it is only 3" across. (Not that S. gigantea is a particularly large species, they're just not all that small either.) I personally don't think the lines are altogether that blurry between S. gigantea and S. haddoni but agree that some tend to exbihit traits of both species and there may be such things as hybrids between the two. Most carpets sold in the trade are S. haddoni. S. gigantea does pop up once in a while but they fare very badly after shipping, they are particularly prone to bacterial infections.

Do you have any pictures you can post? Would love to see it.

[BCReefer]

Your right it is bigger than 3”. I never realized that 3” was so small. It is actually more like 6”. I know there is a male joke in here somewhere but I will leave it alone.
[img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]

I have a basic digital camera so I will try and take a picture this weekend.

Andrew the Xenia is doing well. Should I glue the rock frag that it came with to my other rocks? I had a turbo snail knock it over yesterday.

[canadawest]

My Xenia frags get knocked over all the time, and they don't seem any worse for wear. Generally I just find a spot in my rockwork where I can wedge the frag rock into. So far I haven't had to glue or putty anything in my tank.

(Although the Montipora I just got from Darren looks like it's going to need some putty to keep in place)

Hey Darren, what kind of putty are you using, and where do you buy it from?

Anyways, I wouldn't worry about the Xenia frag rock. In a couple weeks the Xenia will be moving outward and attaching itself to whatever is near it anyways, and that will cause the rest of the colony to be permanently attached there. Voila, nature's glue.

[Samw]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by canadawest:

As for calcium, not a big deal with only a couple LPS corals in your tank. Victor's suggestion of Seachem's Reef Advantage Calcium (and Reef Builder) is a good one. They are what I use for my calcum supplementation (and Alk levels), although I am now switching to Kalk. Even though I dose it, it can just be mixed up in small batches and poured right into your tank. If you are doing water changes a couple times a month, you could just add it to your change water to boost the CA. It's not something that needs to be added daily, or even weekly for that matter. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Be careful with the Kalk.

I would like to share my first experience with Kalkwasser. Unfortunately, it was a bad one. I bought Seachem Reef Kalkwasser on Boxing Day and thought I would add a small dose into my tank to enhance coral growth. I followed the instructions and added 2 teaspoons into a gallon of water and mixed it. Then I used a plastic cup and poured the mixture into the tank 1 cup at a time. By the 3rd cup, I saw my tang lying on its side and saw the anemones shrinking rapidly and so I stopped. This tiny amount of kalkwasser in a 37 gal tank was enough to shock some of my livestock to death. I lost a tang, a clam, 2 anemones, and the emerald crab within a few hours. 2 of my corals might not make it either. I've done about 30% water change and plan to do a few more in the next few days.

This was a costly rookie mistake. I was devasted.

[ 28 December 2001: Message edited by: Sam W ]

[canadawest]

Ohhh geez Sam, I'm really sorry to hear what happened. (I was wondering why your new purchase was up for sale already)

I've never heard of it being toxic like that so quickly, in such a relatively small amount? I mix 2 heaping teaspoons with 1 teaspoon of vinegar into 2.5 gallons of fresh water, and dose over a few hours overnight. I've never had any problems.

Hopefully everything else in your tank pulls through. I would suspect that you had a drastic pH swing or Alk swing, as I don't think Calcium can kill?

[DJ88]

Sam,

Did you let the mixture sit and settle before adding to your tank? Once that was done only add the unsaturated solution? The white material at the bottom you can't add to your tank..

Just trying to see where it went wrong..

Sorry to hear about that.. [img]images/smiles/icon_sad.gif[/img]

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

I think the problem is that the kalk is a highly caustic solution (i.e. high pH). You need to have lots of CO2 to bring the excess pH down to normal seawater levels. This is why I would drip it at night and drip it slowly. CO2 levels are higher at night. CO2 is generated slowly by the fish and corals at night -- so kalk should be drip in accordingly.

Also, if the fish or anything touched the concentrated caustic solution as you are pouring it, you may have chemically burned the fish or coral.

In Andrew's case, his tank is much bigger so his pH increase will be small (plus he has a lot of fish).

Check your pH.

- Victor.

[Samw]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DJ88:
Sam,

Did you let the mixture sit and settle before adding to your tank? Once that was done only add the unsaturated solution? The white material at the bottom you can't add to your tank..

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Err, yeah, some of the white stuff got into the tank. What does that stuff do in the tank? I guess like Victor said, it'll burn the organisms.