Bleaching Coraline

BarIzoN

BarIzoN

Member
I'm losing all the coraline from the back of my tank...

It's literally bleaching.


My salinity levels is quite high now @ 1.029, but the bleaching is happening for a month or so.

Is there any other specific paramenter I should monitor and what would be the immediate actions at least to stop the bleaching??

I'll do a 20% water change with 1.025 salinity water, but I do want to fix the salinity over the time, and slowly, to not stress the tank inhabitants.

All corals, inverts and fish are doing good and no stress signal. Just the Coraline.
4e19e14cd4bd6ca973227f99ec884ca1.jpg


Thanks!


55G sumpless
Temp 77.6F
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0.3
PH 8.4
Salinity 1.029



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
What is your alk, calcium and magnesium levels. Coraline is very sensitiveness to those, especially to Mg. Its skeleton contain more Mg compared to corals, so it needs more of it.


Also what is your Phosphate level. In my experience coraline dont do very well if nitrate and phosphate levels are at ULNS.
 
I was just reading another thread from years back were the guys tank started having problems from copper not getting removed from his source water (his DI resin was dirty.) While your description isn't exactly like his, when his tank started to go it was the Coraline Alage that was first to bleach.

If you got a copper test kit could be worth testing just for peace of mind.
 
Have you made any changes to your lighting in the past 1-2 months?

Like coral, coraline algae will bleach if lighting is either increased to quickly, or to too high of an intensity.
 
Don't have a copper test... Changed the DI resin after almost a year of use... I'll check the copper just in case. But I'm thinking is something with Magnesium... I'll check that too.
 
No changes in lights whatsoever... T5 lamps are 3 months old, and I'm replacing it regularly... I also have a LED strip attached for about a year, and no changes in coraline too...

Thanks for the tip! :)
 
I'd check for asternia stars being the problem. You have to look close to notice them as they usually do the damage at night.

Sometimes you can see a small spot from the star where the coraline turns orange before it flakes off. It doesn't take a lot of them to decimate your coraline.
 
I am newbie. My tank currently has green algae winning over purple coraline. I think it was related to my skimmer not doing a great job in last 3 months and leaving too much nutrients in the water.


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Magnesium level ~500's.

Way too low...

I did a 10% water change today and dosed Red Sea Magnesium from that "A, B, C" kit.

My water chemistry is a mess now but I don't want to keep dosing chemicals in it. I need to fix this.

Thank you all for the collaboration and idea with MG.
 
BarIzoN said:
Magnesium level ~500's.

Way too low...

I did a 10% water change today and dosed Red Sea Magnesium from that "A, B, C" kit.

My water chemistry is a mess now but I don't want to keep dosing chemicals in it. I need to fix this.

Thank you all for the collaboration and idea with MG.
Click to expand...

Be careful not to raise it more than 25 ppm a day. For coraline, levels around 1400ppm is ideal.

Also do not try to raise Ca and alk before you correct the Mg. Your Mg is dangerously low, if your try to raise Ca or Alk, they might precipitate as Calcium carbonate and cause more harm.
 
That sound good...

I'm focusing only in the MG for now...

Now, for sake of curiosity, this low level of MG would impact other inhabitants? If so, how? I do have a few soft corals, half-dozen fishes and couple LPS...

Again, many thanks for the kind words.
 
Here's a quick video about Magnesium's role in the reef aquarium:

https://youtu.be/pQgmVbx34_s

Low Magnesium levels cause instability in Calcium and Alkalinity. Like Tripod1404 said, the absence of Magnesium will cause Calcium and Alkalinity to precipitate out as Calcium carbonate, which will drag those levels down rapidly. Magnesium is the lock that keeps those two stable. It is safe to raise your Magnesium level by 100ppm daily, but I would not go higher than this.

What I have found to be the culprit in depleted Magnesium levels are our water changes. Magnesium is the most expensive additive in our salt mixes, and most companies reeeaaallly skimp on it. So if your tank has a Magnesium level of 1400, but your new batch of saltwater only reads 900ppm, then you aren't replenishing your Magnesium. You're actually doing just the opposite, and before you know it, you have a Magnesium level of 800ppm in your tank.

I have personally found that Instant Ocean salt mix seems to be the most consistent in Magnesium. The Calcium is at an acceptable level, but just barely. The Reef Crystals version is a lot better in Calcium, but their Magnesium levels are way below what is advertised. I guess they have to make up for that extra Calcium expense somewhere, right?

HTH :bigeyes:
 
Hey guys, Magnesium super low - lower than 600's in couple days dosing Red Sea Magnesium, which is gone now.

I did some research, and discovered a DYI Magnesium booster with lower cost than Red Sea or any other products.

I'm quite confused with the instructions, so, before start a new thread on asking for instructions on a recipe for a DYI Magnesium booster, does anyone knows - or have done - a safe and uncomplicated recipe?

I'm with "Nigari" on my Amazon list ready to buy, but I think I also need Epsom salts, but in the Randy's instructions it's quite confusing, sorry but I didn't get much.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-07/rhf/index.php#14

Thanks!
 
You can trust Randys articles for sure no problems there. With low mag I have gone through bottles before to try and raise it if it was very low. Personally I use Brightwells Magnesion liquid mag without any issues for months. But in your case I am wondering if a simple large water change with newly mixed salt will have proper mag and get you back to spec sooner. My guess is you already have salt and wouldn't need to buy it.


ie; tank = 600ppm newWater=1400ppm replace 25% of volume every week for a month with new salt.. Using 4 gallons for simplicity... Obviously there is consumption but its not gonna be like cal or alkalinity..

600+600+600+600 (mag in tank in each gallon) = 2400
2400 - 600 (remove 25% or a gallon) = 1800
1800 + 1400 (add new mag) = 3200
3200/4 (average out) = 800

if we did this 4 times (say each weekend) for a month we would get back to ~1100 ppm minus consumption..
 
Very likely your calcium and alkalinity is way out of target as well now, since MG helps balance the two. Test those two and look up some diy 2 part solutions asap. I'm surprised your corals haven't shown issues yet.

I've read a safe swing up of about 100 ppm per day is no issue.
 
If 10 gallons of new saltwater has a Magnesium reading of 800ppm and you want to raise it to say 1400ppm before adding it to your tank, it takes almost 600ml of Magnesium Sulfate/Chloride to raise it to this level. Small bottles of Red Sea/Seachem/Kent Marine or similar products won't take you very far.

I use Bulk Reef Supply's Magnesium Mix. It's cheap; it makes a gallon at a time; and it lasts forever. They have a convenient conversion calculator on their website homepage, that makes measurements almost idiot proof, and I have found it to be very accurate to boot:
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-calculator/

If you want to go the home made route though, you might start a new thread about the mixture in the Chemistry Forum. Bertoni can help you out over there.

HTH :bigeyes:
 
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