Questions about coralline...

[icebear]

I don't have any.
If it happens to be on a rock i buy, it fades and dies.
I don't know if it is cause my lighting isn't strong enough, or if highish nirtates are part of it...
my water has been historically

nitrate about 60
dkh 16
pH 8.1
Calcium 640-675 (but then i have problems seeing the test colors)
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
temp 79°F
lights had been 2 36" NO (woo-hoo i know what that means now! )
one is a coralife 10,000K superdaylight and the other a blue actinic.

Should i have expected to see coralline growth with the above parameters?

the only things that have changed recently are:

I added one more 36" NO that is a 50/50.... and i have gotten my nitrates down to 30-35 ish...
Will that make any difference?

I think most people keep their calcium at 410-450 right?, and my dkh has always been 14-18 with no intervention... i had been told that the light i had before the third bulb was added is just enough to get some coralline growth....
so, i'm wondering...if my current conditions are not good enough what do i need to do...is it just lighting?

[Junkzoo]

Icebear, as far as i can see, your water parameters are off a bit
ie: calk too high= 400-450 is a good range(ps: use Salifert test kits)
nitrates,,,hmmmmm
lighting is another aspect, NO light COULD cause coraline growth , but not likely,,,IMO, MH(Metal Halides ) worked for me
(what size tank you have? , i forgot) and PC (actinic) lighting
depends on how long your tank has been "up"
if you ever get coraline on the glass(the places you don't want it) simply scrape it off, the pieces will spread and form elsewhere
get your parameters in line, mebbe some MH's ,,and you should have no problems(than you'd be posting on how to remove it ,LOL)
HTH

[Mrs Smith]

FWIW, we have great coralline growth in our 'fuge, which is lit 24/7 with a plain ol' NO strip light. Our halides seem to make it run for shade.

Random wondering about why your nitrates are up that far... I don't know honestly if that would affect it, but it's not generally a good thing.

Good luck. If it makes you feel any better, we couldn't grow it at all for almost a year. Then BAM *a-la Emeril* and we can't scrape it off fast enough. The glass, that is. It still doesn't grow on the rocks nearly as well. So don't feel like you're a failure. Sometimes these things just go at their own pace.

Danielle

[icebear]

Thanks,

How do i lower calcium?
i've never read of anyone trying, but waterchanges don't seem to affect it (i'm guessing the IO salt mix is simply adding more)...
i'm going to try tinkering with my lighting by hooking up some ballasts that Jimbo suggested, i think he said they should bring my lighting close to VHO level....

i do have a few circles of what looks like coralline, but its deep maroon and its in the less bright spots in my tank, but it has that circular growth pattern like the pink kind...it is growing on my heater and close to where my heater is... maybe it wants warmer temps?

[icebear]

Originally posted by Mrs Smith


Random wondering about why your nitrates are up that far...

Admittedly, i am a 'bit' overstocked, i also had a Fluval that had ceramic biobead type things that kept collecting sludge and i have been told that that can cause nitrate problems...i removed the ceramic cylinders slowly and now my nitrates seem to be going down, i hope it continues to go down.

[Jimbo]

Hi, your test kit for calcium is probally wrong if you haven't added any. Also with a calcium level that high it will precipitate out, look like its snowing in your tank. As you upgrade your lighting the nitrates should fall some. Another way is to add more circulation to the tank. Put in a DSB at least 4" of fine sand, this will help in denitrifing. Don't feed as often.

[Junkzoo]

Icebear refresh my memory,,,you have a strictly reef tank, or reef with fish,,and size/ how long running etc.

[Casey]

Yes I suspect your calcium reading is not right.

[Junkzoo]

BTW: on the fluval (if you got reef) remove them( bio-beads), let the LR take the filtration over that will help on the deal,,,,
on the IO "adding " calc.... should not happen,,,my bet is :
tank inbalance,,,,,

bad/off test kit,,,-double check with the LFS or someone else's(Salifert, remember? LOL)

[Junkzoo]

Yup to Casey's post,,,better to double check a problem b4 you go off the "deep end" and try to solve a problem you think you have,,,,be sure b4 you dose/remedy,,,,,

[icebear]

My tank has been up for almost a year now

46 gallon bowfront

i have about 40-45lb liverock
2-4 inches of substrate (deeper in the back than at the front...not sure why it did that) made up of aragonite, crushed coral and small sized hawiian puka shell.
1 maroon clownfish aprox 4"
1 yellowtang aprox 3.5"
1 coral beauty aprox 3"
2 chromis (peach) aprox 2 & 2.5"
1 4line damsel about 1.5"

3 mushrooms
4 brown polypy things, look a bit like orangish sea mat i think.

8 blueleg hermits
2 zebra hermits
6 astrea snails
new- 2 lettice nudis


Fluval 303
Aquaclear 200 (i had a spare and use it for extra circulation)
2 Powerheads i can't remember the size number, the labels are worn.

79°F

lights are on from 8:00 am to 11:00pm

feed once a day, sometimes add nori sheet strips

[icebear]

Originally posted by icebear
i also had a Fluval that had ceramic biobead type things that kept collecting sludge and i have been told that that can cause nitrate problems...i removed the ceramic cylinders slowly and now my nitrates seem to be going down, i hope it continues to go down.

yep and i did it slowly over the course of about 6 weeks, it has seemed to help...my nitrates actually go down when i change out water

[icebear]

to the calcium level... i thought the IO might be why it never goes down cause i have nothing using it up so every time iadded new water i was "replenishing" calcium that was never even used in the first place....but i guess not

I use a Seachem test kit and i hate it. the test color is supposed to go from purple to blue, and the darned thing NEVER seems to get to blue to me. I always see purple in it. I like my Quik Test dkh test cause it goes from blue to straight yellow! It is very likely that my drop count is off by at least 3 drops with the seachem kit....like i said, it never seems blue no matter how many drops, so i can never see when to stop counting drops. I need to get a better kit at least for calcium
i will make that my next purchase....

[Mrs Smith]

lights are on from 8:00 am to 11:00pm

More random thoughts... if you got the lettuce nudis to help with an algae problem, cutting your lights down will help tremendously. (Of course, if you've been running them that long this whole time, your system is probably used to it.) It just dawned on me that that's the longest photoperiod I have ever read of.

I think you will see your nitrates continue to fall... Feeding less usually helps too, but I don't know how much you feed as it is.

I really hate those color change test kits.

Danielle

[Junkzoo]

Originally posted by icebear
I need to get a better kit at least for calcium
i will make that my next purchase....

Salifert,,,'nuff said,,