Coaraline Algae on the glass

[Stringer]

I have a 75 gallon reef tank that has been up and running for 14 months. I have live sand and about 300lbs of live rock. I run a CPR back pack protien skimmer, a Fluval 404 canister filter and a 100 Sea Storm. My corline algae is not developing. Any ideas why not?

[hartman]

Stringer,

what are your water parameters? including CA. Does you LR have corline algae on it?

Hartman

[Stringer]

Ammonia and Nitrites are 0
Nitrate is less than .20
Calcium is 380 and rising.
Ph is 8.2
Phosphate is 0
dkh is 186 :(

[Stringer]

Sorry, just a beginner here.
Salt content is 1.022
Live rock does have algae.

[jbjints]

Hi,
Your calcium should be higher, more between 400 and 450.

Joe

[TwistOfLemon]

They seem to like fast flow rates. I had a huge growth covering back of tank where the power head flow was stiking the back. Not sure about chemistry involved.

[3_high_low]

Whats the alkalinity? 186dkh! You musta forgot a decimal point or something. 10-12 dkh is what i shoot for, I have plenty of coraline growth growth in a tank set up Feb 2001.

If your alk is 18.6(still too high) and you lower it the Ca++ concentration will increase.

hth:bum:

[hartman]

Stringer,

Suggestions

1) Raise your Salt content or SG (specific gravity) to about 1.026
2) Get you tank temp to at least 80 F
3) If you Nitrates are 20ppm or .20 like you said do some water changes since this is high, not deadly high just high.
4) Is your skimmer a CPR Bak Pak II, if so it is too small for your tank. I run the same thing on a 20G and most will not recommend it for anything over 35G lightly stocked.


Questions
1) What is your light setup like and how long do you run them?
2) How are you adding your CA

[Stringer]

Thanks for the reply.

1. Light setup is (1) Power Compact consisting of (2) 55 Watt White lights and (2) 36 watt actinic blue lights. Also is (1) 48" shop fixture that contains (1) 48" 40 Watt White and (1) 48" 40 watt actinic blue.

2. I am just starting to add CA on a regular basis and testing every 2 days to find the right amount. At present, about 1 tsp every 3 days.

I was adding Kent's Part A and Part B stuff every day. I quit that and started just the CA, Strontium/Moly and Iodine.

3. Skimmer is CPR Back Pack. I think it's rated for 50 gallons and since I have so much live rock, I don't have 50 gallons of water. It seems to work very well and I have to change the cup every other day usually.

[hartman]

Stringer,

On the lights
1) Your Power Compacts are designed for the reef right? Is your white bulb rating 6500 Kelvin and your blue bulb is 7100K?

2) The shop lighting is it something you bought at say a home depot like store and replaced the bulbs with reef bulbs?

As for the CA and Alk I use B-Ionic 2 part additive for maintaining the right levels in my tank. I would highly recommend it, for a 75G it might be costly since you need a lot, but is very simple. CA reactor would be the cheapest over time but requires a lot of work.

I would drop the dosing of Strontium/Moly and Iodine it will cause more problems than it is worth. Regular water changes will maintain all the trace elements you need.

[Stringer]

I am kinda new to this and certainly appreciate all the help and advice you have been giving.

With regard to the power compacts, I really don't know but they better be designed for a reef tank. I bought it at the LFS and they know about my tank and the corals I purchase. The light fixture did not come with any literature and I sometimes wonder about that.

Question: Why can't you use VHO light bulbs in a regular fixture and is that a cheap way to achieve VHO lighting?

The Home Depot fixture does contain Coral Life bulbs.

As for additives, are you saying that all I should use is B-Ionic part 2?

Thanks again for the help

[hartman]

Stringer,

Ok here is a quick over view of the lighting. When I say "for reef use" I mean either HO (high output) PC (power compact) and VHO (very high output). There are 2 parts that make "lights" reef use

1) The Kelvin ratings, this is what type of light output the bulb emits when running properly. So here is the scale

less than 5000K are yellow in color
6500-8000K are white with a little blue
10,000K are very white with more blue
20,000K are becoming very blue

Most people will recommend no less than 6500K ratings anything less will not provide proper wave lengths needed.

2) The ballast is the next most important. On your standard shop 48" 2 bulb setup the ballast cannot properly "drive" a reef bulb since they are usually lower quality. Most new reef ballast are electronic which run the bulbs better. This is a simplest explanation so not to confuse you with all the details.

So if you have some cash this is what I would do to your tank to make the ligthing better

Buy and ICEcap 660 ballast http://www.icecapinc.com/
and
4 48" 110W bulbs, 2 10k white and 2 03 actinic bulbs

here is a good online store to buy the whole kit for $335.00
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=ICE-4X48R&Category_Code=Icecapvhor


OK on the additives, keep using the CA and Alk dosing just drop everything else. When you do water changes (not fresh water top-off) the salt mix will have most of the trace elements in there to keep everything in balance.

Ask any more question you like and I will try to answer them for you.

Hartman

[hartman]

Originally posted by hartman
Stringer,

Ok here is a quick over view of the lighting. When I say "for reef use" I mean either HO (high output) PC (power compact) and VHO (very high output). There are 2 parts that make "lights" reef use

1) The Kelvin ratings, this is what type of light output the bulb emits when running properly. So here is the scale

less than 5000K are yellow in color
6500-8000K are white with a little blue
10,000K are very white with more blue
20,000K are becoming very blue

Most people will recommend no less than 6500K ratings anything less will not provide proper wave lengths needed.

2) The ballast is the next most important. On your standard shop 48" 2 bulb setup the ballast cannot properly "drive" a reef bulb since they are usually lower quality. Most new reef ballast are electronic which run the bulbs better. This is a simplest explanation so not to confuse you with all the details.

So if you have some cash this is what I would do to your tank to make the ligthing better

Buy and ICEcap 660 ballast http://www.icecapinc.com/
and
4 48" 110W bulbs, 2 10k white and 2 03 actinic bulbs

here is a good online store to buy the whole kit for $335.00
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=ICE-4X48R&Category_Code=Icecapvhor


OK on the additives, keep using the CA and Alk dosing just drop everything else. When you do water changes (not fresh water top-off) the salt mix will have most of the trace elements in there to keep everything in balance.

I use the B-Ionic 2 part system. it is very simple and keeps my CA at about 450 and my alk at 10-12dkh. I add about 12ml of the Alk part and 20ml of CA part daily. Each set of bottle cost like $20.00 i think and in 10 months I have use 3 kits.


Ask any more question you like and I will try to answer them for you.

Hartman

[hartman]

Darn I messsed up the edit as a post. Sorry

Hartman

[Stringer]

Thanks again,

You have been very helpful.

[hartman]

Stringer,

Anytime :) I remember that hassle I went through when I finally decided on a RETO kit from Hamilton PC 2x55W for my 20G. Had I know about ICEcap I would have bought the 660 and VHO

Hartman