where's my coralline?

[centrek]

K, I got my 75 nearly 2 years ago now. I put in 25lbs of LR from the LFS which had some coralline, but not a lot. It slowly died off, and left me with green rocks. Then last weekend I went to Harbor Aquatics and picked up another 12lbs of LR. I stuck it in my tank and it looks so much better than my old green rocks, but still I'm afraid that all the coralline is dying as well. Why and what can I do about this?

Other people i've talked to say that they start growing their coralline right after they put the LR in, and that it just takes off without them dosing anything. I bought kalk, and dripped 1 gal of that stuff in my tank, took about 3 days or so for the gallon to be gone. Still nothing.

My parameters are :
SG - 1.023
PH - 8.3
Alk - 3.3
NH4 - 0
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 15

Please help, thanks

 

[Leopardshark]

What is your calcium level?? you need 400-450 ppm to make coralline grow, you need also more LR and a pretty strong water flow.
HTH
Marco

 

[LFS42]

be patient,
Coraline also needs ligth, lots of it.
What is the current set-up?

 

[starr]

centrek: What do you think of the rock that you got from harbor aquatics? Is it fiji ? I was thinking about ordering some.

thanks: starrs2001

 

[centrek]

calcium level, i'm not sure of, i'm a poor college student who can't afford another test kit i'm gonna try and get one today or tomorrow though. What about Magnesium? I heard someone say that they couldn't get their Calcium up, and then they tested their Mag which was really low, and then once they got it to 1400, their Calc went up to 400 too. Is this true? If my calc is low, should i get that Mag test kit and check that out or would there be another reason why it is low?

i've been patient, 2 years patient, and nothing. As for lighting, i've got 4x96 PCs. I would that think would be sufficient for it to grow, among other things.

starr: The rock from Harbor Aquatics was amazing. I love it, it is so much better than any LR i've ever seen in person. I got 12lbs, just because i'm remodeling my basement and will relocate my tank down there in 2 months or so, so I was waiting until then to fill up my tank w/ all the LR it needs. I'm also going to drive down to Indy and check out Premium Aquatics LR selection, and then i'll make my decision as to which company to get it from. And yes, it is Fiji LR.

 

[ReefLion]

I have the opposite experience with coralline and light -- too much light and it does not grow very well. As others noted, the keys are good calc/alk numbers. If your magnesium is low, both of these numbers will be depressed. Dripping kalk for three days is not long enough to do anything of substance. Keep dripping for a couple months and you should start to see a difference.

To get things started, you can scrape away some of the coralline off an existing rock in front of a powerhead, to help spread the spores.

Tim

 

[wombat1]

Ditto, it takes months before you notice growth. Keep dosing Kalk and maintain good water quality and you should be fine.

 

[dvmsn]

try dosing with combisan. I find it helps with the coraline growth and always use kalkwasser.

 

[centrek]

well, alright, i guess i know where to start, kinda... My calcium level is about 315. Sooo, what do I do? Should I mix in 2tsps of Kalkwasser in my 1 gallon dripper and let it go at it, or should I get something else that raises the calcium dramatically?
Thanks!!

 

[Garry thomas]

centrk the challenge of keeping a healthy reef is not impossible at all, but there's one additive you cant purchase........its called patience! i read somewhere once only bad things happen quickly in a reef tank, good things take longer!........its true. My first tank a 39 gal jewal88 was totally wiped out by my lack of knowledge but most of all PATience. i wanted coraline algy to be there tomorrow after putting a bit of kalkwassser in, which incidently was just tipped in AAAaaHHHhhhhhhhh i shudder even thinking about what i put them fish through? but alas! Look now, a large and successfull reef, which i plan to improve?
Anyway i'm babling again, get your calcium above 400 min, magnesium between 1300ish and 1500ish drip in your kalkwasser, and the secret when you have all the ingrediants... true blue peter style...the seed... scrape it off rocks,friends tanks, dealers tanks bung in to a pestle and mortor grind away bung in your tank and hey presto it starts to grow!

 

[Russ1]

Read about calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium. There are a number of good books that explain. Also article by Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley.

 

[Garry thomas]

Russ too true, you can never read to much? i read read read and them some more!

 

[centrek]

great, thanks guys, i'll look into all you have said, and see what comes about from it

 

[royy]

I had the same problem as you. Before I started dosing Kalk I noticed all my corraline dieing. When I tested the calcium I found out why. I was reading around 290 for calcium. What I did was continued to drip kalk, but I also went out and got Seachem's Calcium. Basicly it is a liquid calcium that does not have to be added as a 2 part. I added a bit of that every day until I got to 450. Then I stopped using the Seachem and swithced to a 2 part, B-Ionic. I use the B-Ionic and Kalk together and my tank has been kicking butt since.

Good luck,
Roy

 

[seahawkjohnny]

Use B-Ionic, and also use Reef Crystals salt mix, Its Instan Ocean with added calcium, and other minerals, I used to use Instant Ocean where my calcium levels were 350 even while using B-Ionic, than went to Reef Crystals, and now its at 450, and magnesium is a catalyst for calcium, and if you have a good skimmer, add some weekly, I add twice a week, also corraline will grow better with VHO, and PC lighting better than halides

 

[Expos Forever]

I just made some coralline soup. Scraped a power head (or if you get shavings from someone) and mixed it with a little bit of tank water in the food processor. Either just dump the water back in or direct it with a turkey baster to seed problem areas. Not really necessary if you conitinue to drip (with the prescribed patience) but it will definetly kick start growth.