Corals use of minerals

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CameL

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Hi guys,

When people talk about corals getting retarded growth when parameters are out of whack, what does that mean?
Do your corals stop growing and therefore stop the intake of minerals?
Can coral growth stop when you parameters are out of line due to one mineral, im talking the major minerals i.e. alk/ca/mg. So if ca and mg are correct according to "normal" levels but alk is too low, will corals stop growing, and if you correct alk will coral growth start again?
Can this be used to controllably slow coral growth while still keeping everything healthy?
I understand that long term low alk levels are not good. Just a thought running through my head after measuring parameters and one long day at the office.

I hope i explained myself clearly enough.
 
I would not ease off Alk. If you want to slow down stony corals, decreasing the calcium will work but why not just let them grow and frag them? I dont know how you slow down softies though.
 
Why would you want to slow down coal growth? Best is to keep the parameters where they should be and let the corals do what they are supposed to do...grow.
 
Unfortunately it's not that simple with corals. There is the theory that things growth is limited by the nutrient in the lowest concentration, which is fairly easy to demonstrate in plants.
With reef tanks the parameters are linked, so limiting kh will upset other levels like pH.

Is there a reason you want to limit coral growth?
 
Well no, my situation is a bit different. My thought patter occured when i noticed a steady decline in alk, ca and mg remained stable, so i dosed for alk on the upper limit of the supplement. i measured about 36 hours later and noticed that it had infact gone down. yet ca and mg remained the same. so it got me thinking that the corals were limited by an inbalance in major minerals. and the moment i pushed them into balance again they used all the available and more. don't know if i make sense.
 
What is your ca and mg levels? a low mg level will prevent you from raising alkalinity. Also if your calcium is too high, you will drop alkalinity by adding calcium. I don't think the corals have anything to do with it, I think you just have a imbalance that is preventing your efforts
 
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