Stanley11 October 16, 2014 Share October 16, 2014 Have a 70 gallon tank with 20 gallon sump. We have a very low bioload. 4 small fish. All types of corals and all seem to be doing well. We are waiting several months to do water changes and when we do it is 5 gallons. Nitrates are consistently zero. Phosphates are 0.25. Calcium is 520 and alk is 214. Initially we started with half fully coralline covered rocks from an old tank and coralline started growing on the other new rocks. Within the last month almost all has disappeared. We are dosing with reef fuel. I am figuring that some mineral I need is depleted from lack of water changes but can't put my finger on what. Any suggestions would be great. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RW09903 October 16, 2014 Share October 16, 2014 What kind of corals do you have? They might be out-competing the coraline for calcium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djplus1 October 16, 2014 Share October 16, 2014 Do you have an urchin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanley11 October 16, 2014 Author Share October 16, 2014 A little tuxedo urchin. i don't think he is eating it all. I have added several sps corals over the past few months. More like 5 or 6 that all seem to be growing. And a torch, octospawn, and some really large leathers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime October 16, 2014 Share October 16, 2014 I have a few urchins and clams, my coraline still grows quick. I don't think 1 urchin is culprit, could be wrong though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RW09903 October 16, 2014 Share October 16, 2014 It's likely the urchin. My pin cushion devours coralline, given the chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 October 16, 2014 Share October 16, 2014 Do you have an urchin? Good call. My tuxedo devours it also and mostly stays on the rocks. He doesn't eat every inch of it but does a pretty good job it keeping it under control. So glad I got him becase coraline has really become a nuisance in the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanley11 October 16, 2014 Author Share October 16, 2014 Yeah, I'm struggling to grasp why the calcium and alk are still high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanley11 October 16, 2014 Author Share October 16, 2014 Hmm. I had the urchin in a tank half the size of the current one with rocks full of coraline which he never kept up with eating. It is a tuxedo urchin the size of a quarter. Would magnesium get depleted faster than calcium? I suppose I need to get a mag tester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 October 16, 2014 Share October 16, 2014 What lights you run? How old? There is a chance they are wearing out and need replaced. But probably not since the corals are growing. Is green algae out competing over top of it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanley11 October 16, 2014 Author Share October 16, 2014 Lights are good. The chaeto in the sump could be out competing I suppose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 October 16, 2014 Share October 16, 2014 The Alk runs out fastest in my tank. Rarely I have to add mag since my water change schedule keep up with it. I do have to dose calcium and Alk but that's all I supplement but it's pretty obvious with those numbers that you don't need to dose yet. There are actual consumption ratios but everyone's tank is different. Are you using reef crystals?... I know calcium and Alk mixes high along with mag. I really don't think the coraline problem will have anything to do with the water parameters especially if the corals are growing. My urchin grows pretty quick I bet it's appetite has grown as well. And maybe the coraline liked the lights in the smaller tank. Or the light had to penetrate much shallower water, getting the stronger light it needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanley11 October 16, 2014 Author Share October 16, 2014 I do use reef crystals but I have cut back on water changes because of the really light load on the tank. Which was my guess that maybe I needed to add something that im missing from lack of water changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b October 16, 2014 Share October 16, 2014 Did you change the light recently? New bulb, new fixture? People underestimate the amount of alk needed by coralline. Also, take a piece of rock with coralline and hold it in the water while scraping it so as to release a pink mist into the water stream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM October 16, 2014 Share October 16, 2014 In my experience, admittedly limited, coralline algae needs more flow, but less light to grow well. For instance, the first place I saw it in my tank was right on the lip of the coast to coast overflow and on the backsides of powerheads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djplus1 October 16, 2014 Share October 16, 2014 Honestly, it's probably a combination of not having enough elements to keep up with the Urchin's coraline consumption. I have a blue Tuxedo in a biocube and it completely stripped the tank of coraline. I also have a spiny urchin in my 72 gallon and it has pretty much completely stripped that tank as it was almost completely purple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rburgee October 16, 2014 Share October 16, 2014 I had a pencil urchin and he/she decimated the coralline off rock work and the glass in a 155 in a couple weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rburgee October 16, 2014 Share October 16, 2014 Feed the urchin some macro and it will slow down the coralline consumption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanley11 October 16, 2014 Author Share October 16, 2014 Alright, will try that out and see what happens. Thanks all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangros December 16, 2014 Share December 16, 2014 Did you say 500 Calc??! That seems way out of line - way too high. Read this: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php If I may also add, that when I experienced this issue: the first time was due to a hungry Urchin, and the 2nd time was due to the lack of Mag. Once I dosed it correctly, my other elements seemed to get back in line and the coraline started to thrive again. I suspect that is your prob. I would check for that first and try to isolate that Urchin son of a gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSexyShrimp December 23, 2014 Share December 23, 2014 (edited) I've been running my 34 gallon nano since late summer. Started w/ dry rock. No coralline growth on them at all. No dosing/supplements. Just water changes with Reef Crystals. A few frags I purchased came with some coralline on the frag plugs, but I saw no growth, and in a few places, the coralline patches seemed to shrink. Mostly LPS, but also 1 acropora frag and some small montipora frags. My situation was similar to yours. I only have 1 small tailspot blenny in the entire tank. Bio load so low I didn't have to do much in the way of water changes. So I didn't. During the Black Friday sale week I ordered a Ca/Alk/Mg test kit, a Hannah Alk checker, and a BRS kalk/mg/ca/alk starter package. Tested night of Dec 2 -- first time doing these tests, so I don't fully trust my numbers. Red Sea tests for Ca / Mg came back normal. Red Sea test for alk was ~8.4dKh but I'm pretty sure I messed it up. Ran the Hannah checker twice-- 117 (6.55dKh) the first time, 139 (7.78dKh) the second time. (Point is, alk was definitely on the low end.) Dec 3 I made a half-strength batch of Kalkwasser (1 teaspoon per gallon instead of 2), and poured it into my ATO reservoir, which was already about 1/3 full. So this kalkwasser was definitely less than half-strength. Anyway around Dec 15 ( < 2 weeks later) i saw a rather large purple dot of coralline on my starboard bottom. A few days later I saw more dark green and purple dots all over the tank. So it seems my coralline was inhibited by low alk. I know your alk is much higher than mine was, but that's what did it for me. tldr-- No coralline growth. Added kalk to ATO top offs, coralline starts growing in under 2 weeks. Edited December 23, 2014 by MrSexyShrimp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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