I want plant life - no success - what gives?

[SoupySteve]

55 gallon display with:
70lbs LR
40lbs aragonite w/plenum style bed
All sorts of softies that are growing VERY well
2 large dusters
1 pep shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp
4 mexican snails
6 "other" snails
70 "micro" blue-legged hermits
1 Coris Wrasse
2 flase percs
2 PJ cardinals
1 Flame angel
PC lighting (4x65)
Overflow dumps into>
30 gallon sump - seaclone skimmer, normal output lighting
10 gallon fuge (inside 30 gallon sump) with southdown DSB
600-800 gph RIO (can't remember model number) as return pump through a SCWD.


About six weeks through cycling, I had a MASSIVE hair algae outbreak - that's when I bought my snails - they took care of it all. Since then, THE ONLY GREEN growth in my tank has been Chaetomorpha (spaghetti algae). Everyone goes on and on about it - but I hate the looks of the stuff, it gets into the powerheads in my sump/fuge PITA!!! I was told that my phosphate levels may be too high and to dose with iron. I added a phosphate removing sponge and I just started to dose with iron.
My current water params:
80.5 temp
1.026 SG
660ppm calcium
norm/low dkh
8.2 pH
0.003 nitrite
<2.5 nitrate
0 ammonia
This is all I can test for, and they are crummy Red Sea kits, so the readings aren't incredibly precise...
I do 5 gallon weekly water changes with Kent salt. I vacuum out the aragonite bed while I do these. I top off with RO/DI daily to avoid SG level swings.
I cannot stress how well all my softies and other livestock is doing... I have coralline algae so thick that I really no longer need my background on the back of my display.
ANY suggestions to help me get some green growth in my tank would be GREAT. TIA

 

[hmott]

what have you tried to get going, and where.. tank or refuge? How did it look when it died? what is the lighting that you are using wherever you are trying to grow the macros.

 

[Quiet1]

WOW, how did you get your Ca that high? You have a huge ALK and Ca problem. This is most likely the source of your problems. I would begin regular water(with RO/DI and good salt mix) changes of at least five gallons every other day until you get your Ca and ALK back in line. Once this is done and a week or two pass, you should see a turn around in your macros and your tank in general. If you have any fursther questions about your reef chemestry check out Reef Chemestry Forum here at Reef Central.

Quiet1

 

[SoupySteve]

hmott - I've tried spaghetti (chaeto?) algae, grape (calerpa?) algae, and feather (calerpa?) algae. I've tried fistfull clumps of each in my display and sump/fuge). The sump/fuge area is 10 gallons with a DSB. It has normal output lights from an old FW tank I had. In all cases, the spaghetti alga was the only one that survived; it easily quadrupled its mass every two months in the fuge - but was problematic when it would end up in pumps and powerheads and clogging them. I took the algae out of the fuge/sump and into the display where there is PC lighting. It grows well - but I think my fish and/or inverts consume enough that it's not taking over the tank.
The grape and feather algae all looked like they turned to mush... It's kind of hard to describe their passing. My flame angel and six-line (at the time) picked on the feather algae big time.
I had thought about getting the "Shaver's brush" or whatever it's called - but did not think it'd do well in an aragonite bed in my display and I'm not too clear on their lighting needs.
Quiet1 -
I'll have to take a few peeks in the chemistry forum then... I didn't think that my Ca was that high... I could have sworn seeing several posts by seemingly knowledgeable champs indicating they were running systems with much higher Ca readings.
Isn't ALK basically water hardness? The water in SW Missouri is comes outta the tap at 7.8pH and leaves rings on EVERYTHING. Should I replace cartridges in my RO/DI? I bought it in March of last year. I don't have a TDS meter, though it may be a wise investment. Should I add baking soda? I've heard that it can help to buffer your tank???
I'll definitely take a stroll in the chemistry forums....
Sorry to be long winded!

 

[sjvl51]

Here is an excellent artile on calcium/alk - http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm
Recommended readings - "Alkalinity2 (due to bicarbonate and carbonate but not borate, so those using Seachem salt must raise this value substantially to accommodate the borate being counted in standard alkalinity tests)

2.5 - 4 meq/L or 7 - 11 dKH or 125 - 200 ppm CaCO3 equivalents

Calcium:

380 ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ 450 ppm calcium ion or 950 - 1125 ppm CaCO3 equivalents"

I use this to ensure that calcium & alk are balanced and to know how much to add - http://www.kademani.com/reefchem.htm

Baking soda will raise your alk but before you start adjusting, check the calculator above - you want to keep them in balance to avoid more problems.

A TDS is a very wise investment. It is the only way you will know when to replace the DI filters. DI works on ion exchange principle and when the ions are used up (TDS reading over 0), it is time to replace it. Mine should be replaced every 200 gallons. Normally a RO membrane will last 3 to 5 years so that shouldn't need replacement yet. I have read an excellent article on RO/DI but I can't find it now.

Here is a list of articles that I use to solve water problems -
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=102605

Vickie

 

[hmott]

4 mexican snails
6 "other" snails

with 4 mexican's in the display I don't think its odd you can't get it to grow in your display. Mexican's will eat macro's like its nothing.

I agree it looks like you have some calcium/alk problems but I just don't know if they would be a problem for macro's, at least the non-calcifying types. Try prolifera or razor, I keep a lot of different macros' but green grape and feather never did well it my system. They didn't crash on me, but they don't grow well. I think maybe you should try a calcifying type (halimeda, shaving brush) and maybe a hardy green like prolifera. I bet you have better luck with them.