Giving life to rock...
- Thread starter Ansphire
- Start date
Phosphate (nutrient levels) also play a role. Low nutrient tanks will grow coralline sooner/quicker provided other water parameters are good. Elevated phosphate levels inhibit calcification (including coralline growth).
Dosing kalkwasser is also helpful IME (basically encourages calcification by helping to maintain ca/alk, maintain pH levels and helping to precipitate phosphates).
As for lighting - IME any lighting grows coralline eventually, but my experience has been that it does best in what I would consider "medium" light levels - ie strong fluorescents and bluer/dimmer halides. Too little or too much intensity seems to produce slower coralline growth rates.
The irony of coralline growth IMO is that when starting a new tank many people are inpatience to get it going and in established tanks most people find it a nuisance... :wink:
Dosing kalkwasser is also helpful IME (basically encourages calcification by helping to maintain ca/alk, maintain pH levels and helping to precipitate phosphates).
As for lighting - IME any lighting grows coralline eventually, but my experience has been that it does best in what I would consider "medium" light levels - ie strong fluorescents and bluer/dimmer halides. Too little or too much intensity seems to produce slower coralline growth rates.
The irony of coralline growth IMO is that when starting a new tank many people are inpatience to get it going and in established tanks most people find it a nuisance... :wink:
I agree - coralline growth is definitely a good thing. Just to clarify - I was using the word "nuisance" in a joking way meaning that in established tanks some of us complain about having to frequently scrape it from the glass and clean if off of pumps. :wink:
Since we are on the topic of coralline,
I am happy I have it growing so well. But have a question.
It has grown on my jets and on my magnet. in addition to the back of my tank, On the back of the tank I should probably leave it but on the other parts should I just leave it or scrape it off. its not hurting anything but it building up kinda thick.
I am happy I have it growing so well. But have a question.
It has grown on my jets and on my magnet. in addition to the back of my tank, On the back of the tank I should probably leave it but on the other parts should I just leave it or scrape it off. its not hurting anything but it building up kinda thick.
Cool,
maybe I will just remove it from my jets and strainer area.
Yes, it does look cool when it plates out, thats what its doing on my magnetic scraper. Its really neat type of formation.
Sorry to highjack here. but
This is my first attempt at salt water and I love it.
Have had coralline start at about 3 months
Dont mess with DIY RO water, just get 5 gals of premix saltwater from my local store change 1x a month like clockwork. (time and room issue)
Tank official 1 year birthday is 7 march.
Oh, yeah,
My tank is a
37 Gal Red Sea Max
55 watt 15power fluoresents
1 watt per liter about 10,000k with 1:1 actnic blue (420mm)
two 550 lph pumps
protein skimmer
2 Fire Shrimp (8mo)
3 clown fish (not reallysure the actual name but have some black on thier tops) (9mo)
1 Yellow tang (6mo) 1 red sea scallop (4mo)
1 sand sifting star (6mo)
1 I dont know fish was told a goby of type but some told me it was a type of perch he's red and white, hangs out at bottom or around rocks.
1 brown/green zoa - well actually its spread to some of my live rock
1 who knows what type of coral cant remember - wife got it opened up for 2 months
maybe I will just remove it from my jets and strainer area.
Yes, it does look cool when it plates out, thats what its doing on my magnetic scraper. Its really neat type of formation.
Sorry to highjack here. but
This is my first attempt at salt water and I love it.
Have had coralline start at about 3 months
Dont mess with DIY RO water, just get 5 gals of premix saltwater from my local store change 1x a month like clockwork. (time and room issue)
Tank official 1 year birthday is 7 march.
Oh, yeah,
My tank is a
37 Gal Red Sea Max
55 watt 15power fluoresents
1 watt per liter about 10,000k with 1:1 actnic blue (420mm)
two 550 lph pumps
protein skimmer
2 Fire Shrimp (8mo)
3 clown fish (not reallysure the actual name but have some black on thier tops) (9mo)
1 Yellow tang (6mo) 1 red sea scallop (4mo)
1 sand sifting star (6mo)
1 I dont know fish was told a goby of type but some told me it was a type of perch he's red and white, hangs out at bottom or around rocks.
1 brown/green zoa - well actually its spread to some of my live rock
1 who knows what type of coral cant remember - wife got it opened up for 2 months
Now that I come back to this topic....
If I wanted just to give life to my rock.. now Im talking strictly about bacteria... not color... what should I do?..
PUt it in a rubbermaid container with a heater and powerhead for a few weeks?...Do I have to add anything for nutrient source?
If I wanted just to give life to my rock.. now Im talking strictly about bacteria... not color... what should I do?..
PUt it in a rubbermaid container with a heater and powerhead for a few weeks?...Do I have to add anything for nutrient source?
If we're talking about live rock that you've purchased or will take from an existing tank, then it already has bacteria on it and it'll be fine to hold the rock in the rubbermaid with a heater and some powerheads for a few weeks. You will not need to add any additional nutrient sources as the natural decomposition and shedding of detritus will provide plenty to keep the bacteria going.
If you're talking about rock that's inert like homemade/DIY rock or the dry stuff like EcoRox, etc. and you want to get bacteria going on it, then you may want to add some fish food, a table shrimp, etc. to provide a nutrient source to help initiate the nitrogen depending on how clean the rock is...
HTH
If you're talking about rock that's inert like homemade/DIY rock or the dry stuff like EcoRox, etc. and you want to get bacteria going on it, then you may want to add some fish food, a table shrimp, etc. to provide a nutrient source to help initiate the nitrogen depending on how clean the rock is...
HTH
Its rock that was once live... but its dry now...
If I add one pc of live rock in with all the other rock.. about 40lbs.. will it seed it?.. If so.. how long will it take?...
I would like to seed it without taking a pc out of my tank.. chris you mentioned adding some fish food.. can you give me more details...
Add fish food daily??.... Maybe a damsel?>..
If I add one pc of live rock in with all the other rock.. about 40lbs.. will it seed it?.. If so.. how long will it take?...
I would like to seed it without taking a pc out of my tank.. chris you mentioned adding some fish food.. can you give me more details...
Add fish food daily??.... Maybe a damsel?>..
If it was once live and is now dry it's probably loaded with organics right now. I would just put it in the tub w/heat & circulation and monitor water parameters weekly. Most likely you'll see signs of ammonia on a test kit within the first week. If you run a skimmer on the tub you may not see an ammonia spike, but there will definitely be decay/bacterial growth going on...
BTW, I would make an effort to swish the rock around and/or blow off any decay/detritus with a powerhead before putting it back in a display tank. You don't want to import all those decaying organics because under reef lighting the result will be a lot of algae growth.
HTH
BTW, I would make an effort to swish the rock around and/or blow off any decay/detritus with a powerhead before putting it back in a display tank. You don't want to import all those decaying organics because under reef lighting the result will be a lot of algae growth.
HTH
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