My Lighting Spectrum??

[Eb0la11]

Hmmmm, some interesting thoughts. I am not using carbon right now, but I might have to start I guess? haha.

The xenia and colt coral were, when at their peak size maybe the size of a couple soft balls for the xenia and a tennis ball for the colt.

They are definitely doing poor now and I dont know if theyre going to make it. Think they are the culprit?

[ScubaSteve]

Don't forget that a reef is really just a pretty looking battleground. There may be something attacking the softies who are then fighting back with chemical warfare which is ****ing off the other corals. It's vicious circle. Just work your way through the solutions: water change and parameters, carbon (lots), look for pests like Xenia-eating nudibranchs, crabs, etc., make sure nothing is touching/ relocate certain corals, pray.

[Eb0la11]

Hmmm, ok so I've got a minimal amount of carbon running now just in a HOB aquaclear 50. Its about 3 cups or so maybe 4?

How much do you guys run at a time on an aquarium with a 165G display and probably another 40G of water in my 60G sump? Also how long is it good for? A month?

Anyways, thanks for the help guys, I'll try this for now and see if it helps. Probably won't see results very fast.

[Eb0la11]

Ok so I just got a test kit to test the water, here are my readings:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - Very low, near 0
pH - between 8.1 and 8.3 (probably closer to 8.3)
Calcium - < 340 > 320
Phosphate - 0 - 0.25
Alkalinity - How do I test for this? There wasnt a way to test it in the kit I got.
Magnesium - See Above
gH - Should I test this? I cant find info on what a good range would be for it
kH - See above
Iron - I didnt test for this but could if needed.

So what do you guys think I should do to get my corals to start responding better to their environment? I see my calcium is below the ideal conditions and I could look at dosing that, but everything else seems adequate

[kien]

Originally Posted by Eb0la11

Alkalinity - How do I test for this? There wasnt a way to test it in the kit I got.
Magnesium - See Above

They sell test kits for both of these tests. Just about every test kit manufacturer has their own and your favourite LFS should have one. Might want to call to check stock first thought as these kits seem to always be out of stock or have low stocking for some reason.

[Bloodasp]

alkalinity is your kh. At least that's what I think it is. GH is more for fresh water.

[Eb0la11]

Originally Posted by Bloodasp

alkalinity is your kh. At least that's what I think it is. GH is more for fresh water.

Can anyone else verify this?