a newbie to coral-advice?

michelle

michelle

Reefing newb
just wondering a couple things.

i just tested my calcium and it is reading at 580 on a hagen test. I know it is too high, but is it so high it will cause problems? Can i lower it or do i just wait for it to go down on it's own?

Also, my LFS told me to try those "hatch your own brine shrimp" things. I figure they work like sea monkey, but i havent bothered with them yet. LFS said that my filter feeders and fish would really appreciate it. Has anyone else hatch them and fed them to the tank? are they any good?

Thanks
 
ok, i had to submit that thread 4 times...kept getting a notice that I had to wait 15 seconds...Hope it doesn't show up 4 times. If it does, my apologies
 
As long as its not snowing in your tank,your calciums alright.Wish I could get mine to stay closer to 500.
Your coralline will use some of the calcium,as do your snails and any LPS and SPS corals you may have.
 
When my calcium is high I just let it lower on it's own. As for brine shrimp I have hatched them. My fish love them. The only thing though is they have little nutritional value.
 
like Biff (sarah) always says "BrineShrimp is like junk food for fish" !!! but they always gobble them up !!
 
Brine shrimp ARE sea monkeys. And I've hatched them for my tank before. The corals and fish love them. Yeah, they're not the healthiest of food, but I think it's good for my animals to have live food once in a while. It keeps them feeling "wild".
 
So i tested my cacium again and it is reading 620 now. I haven't done a water change since i started this thread (feb 28) and it was only (:S) reading 580 then...should i see a drop in it by now? The only drain on my calcium level in the tank is a condy anemone, a torch coral, a cleaner shrimp and a few small snails, but i still thought it would have dropped a little in a week
 
Brine shrimp are easy to hatch. Do not let a store talk you into an expensive fit to grow them in though. A simple small air pump with hose and adjustment valve and a plastic soda bottle works great. Phytoplankton is loved by a lot of corals also, so if you buy the air pump you can later graduate to culturing phytoplankton. I belive Biffer cultures phytoplankton so probably has the URL's. Brine shrimp eggs are cheap from supply houses that supply phytoplankton cultures and that specialize in sea horses. They even sell the safer deshelled eggs.
 
I would of thought it would of dropped some. Are you using the same test kit? Did you get it test at the LFS?
 
It is highly unlikely that you have a calcium level evem much above 500. Usually you will have precipitation before ar around there. I do not believe 620 is even possible with other tank parameters being any where near normal. I wpold reread the directions taht came with your test kit and retest. If you still come out with readings above 400 to 450 I would take a sample to your LFS and ask them to test your calcium levels.
 
The only Hagen kit I used read that my calcium was way high.It could have just been a bad kit or I could have just made a mistake while testing.
I'd try a different brand kit and see what it comes up with before I did anything drastic.
 

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