First some background: I have about 40-50 lbs of live rock in my 55 gal FOWLR tank. I use (3) T-8 10000k and (2) T-8 actinic bulbs with moon lights. This tank has been up and running since late March. Lights are on a 12 hour timer and I do partial water changes every few weeks. I keep the water parameters in the "good" range. My calcium levels are even a little higher than what is normal. WHY AREN'T MY ROCKS GETTING PURPLE, RED, GREEN, ECT....??? They do have some green but not the good green. That green has replaced a white paint-like coating on the rocks. Oh, I also have 50 lbs of live sand but I never found anything in it. Someone please tell me what my dumba$$ is doing wrong!
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Live Rocks (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter ickyme
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i dont know why your not getting any coraline growth. im sure somebody will enlighten us 
as far as the sand is concerned, you need some sand from an established aquarium to use as a "seed" so that life will start to occur.
as far as the sand is concerned, you need some sand from an established aquarium to use as a "seed" so that life will start to occur.I bought the sand from a couple of "Dr's" and it was supposed to come straight from the sea bed. The rocks I have came from the doc's too.
I have seen spots of purple, red and green but they disappear and fail to take over. Could it be my lawn mower blenny and dwarf coral beauty fish that is eating the pretty algae before it can flourish? I feed them dried seaweed 2-3 times a week. I also have 2 clowns, bi-color blenny, pj cardinal, anemone and some turbo snails and hermit crabs.
I have seen spots of purple, red and green but they disappear and fail to take over. Could it be my lawn mower blenny and dwarf coral beauty fish that is eating the pretty algae before it can flourish? I feed them dried seaweed 2-3 times a week. I also have 2 clowns, bi-color blenny, pj cardinal, anemone and some turbo snails and hermit crabs.
G
Guest
I had a similar issue with my 90 gal and it was due to my alkalinity was low. I would have some appear after water changes but it would soon bleach out.
AquaNerd
Guest
yeah, check your alkalinity levels, if they are too low then the coralline will not be there for long. calcium and alkalinity are the two biggest parameters looked at when regarding coralline growth as well as hard coral growth.
tas5tas
Guest
You may want to increase the flow in your tank as well. Snails, beleive it or not help with spreading coraline also. Whenever I increased the flow in my tank, my coraline growth rapidly increased and is looking great now. I dose with purple-up every 2-3 days as needed to keep my calcium around 450. My corals that I have deplete my calcium levels rather quickly.
Should I keep the calcium around 450 because the last time I checked it was over 500. What is a good level to keep the alkalinity? How long should it take for the coralline algea to start taking over? Should the lighting cycle be shortened, lengthened or keep it at about a 12 hour day?
Thanks for the help and advice!
Thanks for the help and advice!
tas5tas
Guest
Keep your calcium between 400-480...anything over 500 and you will start to see precipitation.(White bleach looking spots on your rocks) As far as Alk...I would try to keep it around 10-12dkh. I leave my lights on for about 12-14 hours a day....2 hours actinic in the morning, 8-10 hours all lights on...and 2 hours actinic in the evening.
boogaman
Guest
From my experience it just takes time. Your tank has only been up for a few months.
Gavin
Gavin
