few questions

L

louisthepuffer

Guest
Ive got a few questions. Ive had two pieces of live rock (both about 6 lbs) in my tank for about 2 months now. Neither of them seem to be doing anything in terms of growth. Ive been waiting for some coraline algae to grow, but even that doesnt seem to be "expanding" off the rock. I bought a Kent Marine reef starter kit which includes calcium, iodine, and strontium/molybdenum. Ive been following the directions on the bottles for about 2.5-3 weeks and there still hasnt been any noticeable difference. Shouldnt it be doing SOMETHING by now??? I dont have the strongest of lighting, a 10,000K and actnic blue bulb, pushing about 75 watts in my 30 gallon. is there anything else i can do? Also i got a peppermint shrimp a few weeks ago and he's molted twice, prolly once each week. Anyone know if this is a normal and healthy rate of molting? thanks for the help
 
midwest reefer

midwest reefer

Member
Molting is healthy.
Your light is plenty for coraline growth. It does take an established tank however. It may take a few more months before you really start seeing some. I would continue to add those chemicals, and get test kits to test for them. You want your calcium to be around 400ppm, and from my experience, calcium helps alot in coraline growth.
Also, could it be that the LR you got was junk? It has happened to me, I bought some "bali LR" and it was just junk.
Just smoe thoughts... HTH
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
I agree to stop the iodine and strontium additives. You don't need them and they can be very harmful.
If your Shrimp is young then molting every couple of weeks is normal. If it's an adult then that is excessive and could be the result of Iodine. If it continues then the Shrimp will probably have an unsuccessful molt soon & not survive.
 
crackah

crackah

Member
i agree with waterfaller1 get a calcium test kit and just add staight calcium till u get corals that need the other goods for.
plus if u got just base rock it could take 6 to 8 months to show signs of growth. go get a good peice of rock with lots of growth after u do your water changes.
good luck
 
crystain

crystain

Member
I had no problem getting coralline to start in my tank.. It did take quite a while, maybe 8 months. At first it was the light pink kind. But now I am getting the purple/pink encrusting to take off. I attribute it to getting my calcium and alkalinity to the recommended levels. Or perhaps it is just my tank maturing. But it certainly won't hurt to get your parameters in order up front.
Follow the advice you have been given about testing the water parameters. Its not wise to add supplements without testing.

I dose with kalkwasser, but that wasn't enough to get my calcium up to the 400 range. So I tried Kent Turbo Calcium and it worked great.
I also had issues with alkalinity, and Kent Superbuffer dKH did the job there in less than a week!
Now I am working to get the magnesium levels where they belong. A few folks have recommended B-Ionic ESV magnesium. Its still too early to tell how that is working out
 
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