What am I? - Frag Outpost Forums - Coral Propagation and Reef Aquarium Forums

FragOutpost · 05-01-2006, 07:48 AM

Glad to see that you found out what it is. Luckily I've never seen flatworms of any kind in my tank, good or bad. A wrasse would eat most critters like worms, pods, etc. What are you current alkalinity and calcium measurments? How much calcium are you dosing daily?

Teeka01 · 05-01-2006, 08:22 AM

My alkalinity was 15.7 and Calicum is up to 340. These was yerterdays results I don't take them until 3 today. I have increased the calicum to 8 caps a day because it was only going up by 5 a day. After 3 I will post todays values.

Teeka01 · 05-01-2006, 02:29 PM

I am going crazy first my calicum was going up by 5 so I add 2 more capfuls now it went up by 30. So my calicum now says 370 and my alakalinity is 14.4.

Teeka01 · 05-01-2006, 02:35 PM

This is so fustrating. I am trying so hard to keep these in check. How many newbie mistakes can I make? For all the reading I did it did not prepare me enough. All my softies are doing great. My green mushroom has grown to almost 2". Blushy is extending more and more each day. The green zoos have given me a couple babies. The red zoos are doing great. And last but not least the other mushrooms are growing too.

FragOutpost · 05-01-2006, 03:20 PM

Not to worry Teeka.

It sounds like things are begining to balance out. Keep dosing the calcium and aim for a target of 420-430. At that point your alkalinity should become much more manageable. After your parameters balance out you will want to dose calcium and alkalinity equally. Since you have such a low bioload you will probably not have to dose very much at all once your params are stable. If you can raise your calcium by 15ppm each day then you should reach your target before the end of the week. Let us know how things go.

Teeka01 · 05-01-2006, 04:42 PM

Okay, I have to add 5 gallons of ro water every 3 days due to evoration is this enough to keep my alkalinity stable? Or should I still dose?

FragOutpost · 05-01-2006, 04:56 PM

Adding RO top off water will not affect alkalinity. There are basically two ways to reduce alkalinity. One way is to wait for the organisms in your tank to consume it (coraline, sps, clams, lps, and other calcaerous skeleton building creatures) and the other way is through precipitation which is basically what you are doing by adding calcium. Water can only hold so many dissolved solids. Adding only calcium will force out some of the alk. Caution should be taken though as doing this too fast will cause too much precipitation. Are you adding all 5 gallons of top off water at the same time? Top off should be added daily to reduce the swing in salinity. Dripping top off water is best but not necessary, although small frequent amounts are much better than large amounts every few days. I usually add half of my top off water in the morning and half in the evening.