Live Rock not looking so live! HELP!

[kurplunk]

I have a FOWLR 80g with over 50lbs of rock. The tank is about 6 months old with three very healthy fish( picasso,niger,and harlequin tusk). I test the water on a weekly basis and all the levels amonium, nitrites, and nitrates have all been consistanly low or none at all. I dose the water with kalkwasser,iodine, calcium, and strotium in hopes to upstart the coraline algae growth on the rocks. I've spent top dollar on gorgeous looking rocks just to see their bright colors fade away. There are four turbo snails and two hermit crabs but I dont see how they could clean house on so much rock. I have two 65 watt 50/50 pc that are on a timer. Please help me try to figure out what I'm doing wrong.
Thanks,
kurplunk

 

[S Helinski]

Well, you don't have a lot of light to further the growth of the coralline. Too much light will impede it, but add more PC light and it should boost it up.

You are dosing kalk, lime and Ca without testing the levels. You might be adding WAY too much. Or not nearly enough. Test the CA and ALK levels using Salifert test kits.

It really takes a while for rocks to develop a good growth of coralline, and often it fades away. Your tank is very young, and i wouldn't really worry about it too much. Just monitor those levels, and possibly more light, however, you don't need "any" light for the fish, so don't spend a ton on electricity for no reason.



Steve

 

[OCEANUS]

The main reason you will not see alot of coralline coverage is because your phosphate levels are probably higher than the average reef aquarium due to feeding your fish. This will impede the growth of coralline algae. Even low amounts of nitrate (low for a fowler) will hinder the growth also. As was stated earlier, sometimes it can take awhile for coralline to grow, so keep dosing and testing and have patience.