calcium and growth

[flamingkingofhe]

if you could post what type of calcium and lights you have and if you have any lps and sps corals what type of growth you have had on them, the type of coral, how long it has taken them to grow, and how much they have grown

 

[spsfreak100]

if you could post what type of calcium
I use a DIY kalkwasser doser, two part Bionic and sometimes Kents alkalinity buffer. In November I'm hoping to get a calcium reactor setup, as it's way too expensive to buy $24.00 of Bionic every month.
lights you have
2x 400wt 10,000k Ushio's on PFO HQI ballast with 2x 65wt Actinic "03" Power compacts.
lps and sps corals
Both.
what type of growth you have had on them
Between 1/4"-1 1/2" a month. It's too vague to get an average of 1" of growth monthly, as growth can vary from coral to coral. As an example, one of my A. valida frags has grown only around 1/4" in a month, while an A. formosa(?) has grown almost 1" in less than 4 weeks.
the type of coral
Most of my corals do not have any positive ID. But, here's goes a list:
Acropora Millepora
Acropora Humilis
Acropora Valida
Acropora Yongei
Acropora Gemmifera
Acropora Formosa
Acropora Nobilis
Acropora aculeus
Acropora secale
Acropora nana
Acropora Polystoma
Acropora microphthalma
Montipora Digitata
Montipora Digitata
Montipora Digitata
Montipora Capricornis
Montipora Denae
Hydnophora Rigida
Seriatopora hystrix
Heliopora Coerulea
Pocillopora damicornis
Turbinaria
(Most are guesses, and many are unidentified)
As far as large polyped scleractinians go, I have an open brain on the sanbded. I haven't had it long enough to study the growth rate of the coral.
Take Care,
Graham

 

[aaronw78]

When I started keeping corals a few months ago I started using Kent A&B. Before that I didn't dose any CA for years, I just did monthly water changes using IO mix and w/ just that I had great coraline growth.

 

[slofish]

Use kent tech CB A and B. Buffer and calcium. 2x65 PC (10k and actinic) over a 26 gal.
List of corals: all about 2 months old)
Mushrooms
Red (growing like wild, starting to frag em soom)
Green (overgrown its rock)
Green Striped (only one shroom, hasnt spread)
ricordia (slowly but surely)
Bubble (doing well, no more room to grow out on its rock, starting to grow up)
Flower Pot (full and healthy, new stems growing)
Fox (havent seen much growth)
hammer ( just split from 4 heads to 7)
zoos ( just got them 2 weeks ago, but doing well. no spreading yet)
last check, Calcium 420, alk - 12.5( or whichever it its thats measured from about 6-15), ph 8.2, all other levels just about zero. HTH

 

[bdhough]

I use liquid and just in the last 2 weeks got my levels stable. I have sps and lps under 130 watts of pc's in my 20. Im sure ill get a lecture on that but i really do have excellent growth and the corals are the same color as they were under the halides i got them from.....
Monti Digi grows about 1-1andahalf inches a month and my newest coral the seriatopora is at the one month mark and going to hit an inch at least. Its amazing how much it's grown in the last couple weeks and good the color has become. It started out a pale pale golden brown because it was at the bottom of the mother colony. It is now a very nice golden brown as it should be. It has 15+, i can't see the whole skeleton, new nubs growing and every tip is split 2 or 3 ways already.... My capricornus is green and on the bottom of the tank. If i didn't move it around so damn much itd be bigger but its definitely growing. I have two pieces, one of which has doubled in size finally. They are not going to be moved from now on so we'll see how much they grow down there. Frogspawn Kip gave me has 2 little branches growing at the base i think... and has split from 2 branches to 3 in 3 weeks.....
But it i'm happy and amazed at the results im getting with the limited light....
BTW im planning on going powder based stuff. I had to use half the bottle of the liquid to get the CA up to 450 ish....

 

[jonthefb]

ok here goes....i have a 7 gallon top off trash can that i empty a capful of Seachem's calcium or carbonate additive into whenever it empties....i also have 2 200mL IV bags in which i drip b-ioninc constantly......i also dose aragamilk twice the reccommended strength twice daily.....
needless to say grahm, i too need to get a Ca reactor!
i have 2 250w 10K xm halides and 2 96 w Vho uri actinics
tnks is mainly sps, with a few lps and a few sofites
great growth out of all
and too many corals to list them all!
good luck
jon

 

[overanalyzer]

I selected that I use nothing. I did use some liquid calcium but once I started testing for it I found my calcium was @ 490. It is now around 480. I just do a monthly water change (upwards of 3 out of the 20 gallons). The calcium has been staying pretty steady.
I use 150 watts of VHO over my 20.
I have a bubble coral - it was a rescue - but it is coming along nicely
Candy Cane - have had it for 6 months - about 25 new heads.
Blastomossa - gone from 14 heads to 35 heads in about 9 months.
I think in my larger tank I will go with th pickling lime dosing methods .... if I ever can nail down some lights for the tank!!