need some opinions!!!!!

[tat2tillidie]

my tank has been up over a year now and i cant seem to grow purple coraline algea . i have a lil in there but now i have green coraline algea growing on the substrate. what could be my problem. i add calcium and alkalinity. but when i put the alkalinity in by itself it looks like its snowing. so is my calcium high or low? i hate the calcium test they suck because my blue may be different from someone else

 

[firecrackerbob]

my first guess would be your mg level.
this sounds typical of low magnesium. are you currently checking your mg level? if so what is it at?

next issue is nitrates/phosphates. from what i hear these two parameters will strongly inhibit the growth of Coraline.

so a fist stab at solving your problem without more info would be to verify that your mg levels, as well as Ca, and alk are in the proper ranges. then might fall back on the previous suggestions of getting a fuge going if you haven't already...may also want to check your PH. another idea would be to get a ph probe. the readout is continually updated. i have found that a ph of ~8.2 pretty much always correlates to reasonable alk and ca levels if you are using kalk as your supplement of choice.

btw... which test are you using? I like Salifert(it turns blue as well), but it is a reverse titration and really the best you can get. if you give it proper equilibration after each drop, its pretty clear when it goes from purple to blue/gray.

Cheers
Eric

 

[Gordonious]

Buy a real test kit, aka Salifert or Seachem's. Aquarium systems makes pretty good basic test kits, but when I saw there "calcium" test kit I thought it was a joke.

Rule of thumb in the hobby.
-Don't dose anything unless your testing.
-Don't dose unless you understand why it is your dosing.

BTW many beautiful reef tanks have very little coraline in them. Coraline doesn't like super bright light like many of our corals. I've also heard it prefers something in the blue spectrum.(Just something I heard)

Jon

 

[Tank Predator]

tear down your system and give me your corals ahahahahahahaaa

 

[a1amap]

I agree to test you water but if you add alk directly to the tank water it will usually snow. In mine, If I add the alk directly to the tank it does not mix instantly I have to stir it and its fine . I now mix mine in some fresh saltwater then add the water to the tank. No snow. If you do this and you get snow I would then say something is off.

 

[tat2tillidie]

i never tested for mg

 

[ronert]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12007166#post12007166 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by a1amap
I now mix mine in some fresh saltwater then add the water to the tank.

fresh saltwater? or fresh water. i usually mix mine in some ro/di. helps with the top-off.

so is my calcium high or low?

only a test can tell. (i know, lame answer.)

if you give it proper equilibration after each drop, its pretty clear when it goes from purple to blue/gray.

eric (and Jon) gives good advice ... and you can read proper equilibration as a good swirl ... and if you're using a titration-type of a test, what you are looking for is not a specific blue, but the point where the change is readily apparent.


maybe water testing could be a meeting idea ... ?

 

[4n4sd4]

maybe water testing could be a meeting idea ... ?

I think this would be a great topic for a meeting!!

 

[tat2tillidie]

if someone has a test kit or would like to just stop by and take a look at my tank and evrything and give me some opinions that would be great!!!