Drifty Posted December 20, 2005 Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 what happens to sps if the cal and alk are below the recommended levels. Do the corals die or just grow slower? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted December 20, 2005 Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 low alk can cause rtn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted December 20, 2005 Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 Low alk generally shows up as tissue thinning, leading to patches of slow recession, starting anywhere on the coral. If left, RTN can result, but corals usually don't RTN straight away due to low alk, unless something else is wrong. Low calcium can be less of a problem than alk, growth is retarded below about 350 for many corals, I guess lower than this will cause similar problems to low alk? Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelifaxNZ Posted December 20, 2005 Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 Sorry to gate crash this thread, but it does have some relevance. Has anyone tried the Red Sea +3 supplements (It has Iodine, Calcium and Trace Elements all in one bottle) ? It says to put in 1 teaspoon a week to keep the levels. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 I used it a few years ago. Can't say I saw any difference in the tank. IMO the main thing is to keep calcium and alkalinity right, do water changes, and skim at max to remove nasties. Just that alone will be enough. But to get a bit extra zing, if it's a softy/LPS tank, dose a bit of Reef Solutions. And if there's a decent amount of SPS, keep MG in line. If wanting good coraline also monitor and dose strontium, but it's not essential. Anything after that may make small differences but not big ones. But everybody finds there own little tricks / additives, that work for them, no harm in a little experimentation provided it's in moderation and the basic parameters are kept right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 ...and dont jump to the conclusion that RTN is only caused by low alk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Gunner Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 Wasp - where do you get your Reef Solutions from? I've phoned a few places but no one seems to stock it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 I get mine from Hollywood North Shore. However for people further away I guess you could PM the importer, Reef, and ask who his nearest distributor to you would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 ...and dont jump to the conclusion that RTN is only caused by low alk! Good point. Talking to someone recently who mistakenly dropped his alk to 1 (believe it or not!) his sps looked bad but he did not lose any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 i got rtn on one of my acro's right now but alk is ok on about 8.5. its the one acro that had a stream on 100% pointing directly at it for about 3 months, now all of a sudden its decided it doesnt like it and started to RTN up one side. incidentally that same side thats RTN got some brown algae/diatom growth on it hard core so maybe it smothered the zoox? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregb Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 What does RTN stand for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 RTN = rapid tissue necrosis STN = slow tissue necrosis TN = tissue necrosis For us, the terms refer to tissue death and peeling on sps corals. RTN will often advance so fast you can almost see it, and can kill an entire coral in as little as a few hours. STN will advance slowly, there will be a dead bit, and this may advance by a millemeter or two a day. TN is used as a general description for any tissue necrosis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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