What do I need to do?

[jdennysgir]

Hi. I have a 44 gal. corner tank. It has been up 4 or 5 years. My problem is that I can't get any corraline to grow. Also I had a little bunch of Calupera in it and it died off I think. It went to the bottom of the tank behind rock and I haven't seen any of it since. My tank has 1 Clownfish, 2 Chromis, 2 Brittle Starfish, 1 Royal Gramma, and several hermits and a few snails. My readings are as follows: Temp. 77, Salinity, 1.028, Copper 0 (clear), Calcium, 340, P.H. 8.2, Ammonia, 0, Nitrates, 0, Nitrites, 0. I have a metal halide light but the bulb hasn't been changed in over a year and a half or more. Don't know if that makes a difference or not. I will post a picture of my tank if I can. I use Instant Ocean salt. I usually top off my tank with plain RO water and every other week I take out about 5 gallons and replace it with the salted RO water. I have tried mushrooms a couple of times but the just turned to a slimy mush. I would love to get some of those and some easy corals to grow someday. What do I need to do? All suggestions welcome. Any other infor you need just let me know. Thanks, Chris

 

[buckster71]

1) MH bulbs need to be replaced once a year due to the fact that they lose their intensity
2) Your calicium is low you should try to get that up to 450
3) You probably did what I did the first time. I forgot to add enough trace elements into the tank. I use Reef Plus by Seachem. My corals, clams, and half my inverts perished before I realized my folly...as a noob. Also find out what you need to feed them. Sounds like your tank is pretty clean, so you may need to add Phytoplankton as well. Your tank might be malnorished too.
4) do you have enough flow? I would add a powerhead or two to create more flow around the tank.

 

[jdennysgir]

Buckster,
I have 2 powerheads in my tank, but I think there should be more flow also. And also I had 2 clams that died, a couple of shrimp, and a couple of jawfish. I will order another bulb soon. How do I raise my calcium level? What do I need to do for a malnourished tank? I just got done looking at some pictures of other peoples tanks and I sure wish mine looked like some of them. So colorful! Any more suggestions?

 

[buckster71]

1) Reef Calcium By Seachem. Go to your LFS or online suppliers to buy some of this. I think it is 1 capful for 20 gal of water in your tank. Use the beginner instructions to add it twice a week until you are stable.
2) Reef Plus By Seachem Buy the same. Problem is that you probably didn't add your trace elements. Mine died probably due to lack of iodine in the water. Reef Plus has everything you need, plus nutrients. (twice a week)
3) Corals need Prytoplankton to eat. My mushrooms are the only thing that survived my forced coral Gulag... (be careful, I would 1/4 dose, because I found that algae blooms and raised phosphates from using the recommended dosage)
I lost two Maxi clams, and alot of other stuff, that turned into hermit food. So I've been there. Remember the Iodine.
There are alot of combos you can use, but this is waht I found to give the best bang, without spending alot of bucks.
I did this and my tank looks like Roadhouse...haha

 

[jdennysgir]

Thanks Buckster,
I will start working on these problems. Any idea why the caulpera disappeared? Everyone says they can't get rid of it in their tanks!

 

[buckster71]

Probably the same reason..
Good luck

 

[buckster71]

PS
Check your filter media too. I've found taht some filter pads designed for phosphate removal and such also break down and remove trace elements.

 

[petjunkie]

You shouldn't dose anything without testing it, I only dose calcium as needed, when it goes below 400 and overdosing iodine can be lethal to many things, doing regular water changes with high quality salt should be all you need, your mushrooms may have roasted under the halide, they need to be slowly adjusted to bright lighting if they weren't under it before. Your salinity is a little high, I keep mine 1.026, how are you testing this? Not all corals need phyto either, only things that aren't photosyntheic or only partly, like gorgonians, feather dusters, sponges, etc. Most corals will eat small meaty foods or light solely off the light and water.
Change your bulb, rearrange with flow in mind and start doing weekly water changes and keeping your alk and calcium up, then try some hardy corals like zoos or gsp.

 

[buckster71]

Righto,
Petjunkie caught one I missed. Try to lower your salinity. Hopefully you got a refactometer to doublecheck that reading. I found that the marked dosage on instant ocean kept the salinity a little bit low, as I'm surprised your salinity is that high if you change it regularly like you say. You aren't topping off with nothing but RO/DI water right?
I had a problem with dosing as needed when first starting is that I need to stablize first.
I found two weeks of beginner doses on beginner got mine corrected and stable. I hadn't had to add anything for two months now, but I couldn't understand why I couldn't get above 350 a half week after dosing a couple days prior and stayed at 350. I was always told to dose at at 350 and hold at 400+. This way you didn't have to worry about going under natural sea water which is at 350. A water change kept it at 350 with instant ocean salt. Now I have stayed right at 400 every test without having to add anything for about a month.
Potential overdosing is why I like Reef Plus, so you can add everything you need in one dose and not have to worry about doubling or tripling up.
Everybody has their own methods. The best is to absorb as much as possible and come up with your own...

 

[jdennysgir]

Again, thanks for the help. I use a refractometer (sp.) to check my salinity and I purposely have it a little high because someone told me a while back told me to keep it a little high. I will cut back on the salt. And yes, I do use RO water for my tank. I will work on these problems.

 

[cosguy23]

did you start out with live rock or dried (dead) rock.............. it looks like your live rock doesn't have any kind of life on it....
I never had any coraline algae either until someone on here told me that I need to seed my tank with it.....I went to my lfs and asked them for a small piece of rock that had alot of coraline on it and brought it home. placed the rock in the water and scratch the coraline off and now it's all over my tank... it's been about a year now..............

 

[mcbdz]

Originally Posted by jdennysgir
Hi. I have a 44 gal. corner tank. It has been up 4 or 5 years. My problem is that I can't get any corraline to grow. Also I had a little bunch of Calupera in it and it died off I think. It went to the bottom of the tank behind rock and I haven't seen any of it since. My tank has 1 Clownfish, 2 Chromis, 2 Brittle Starfish, 1 Royal Gramma, and several hermits and a few snails. My readings are as follows: Temp. 77, Salinity, 1.028, Copper 0 (clear), Calcium, 340, P.H. 8.2, Ammonia, 0, Nitrates, 0, Nitrites, 0. I have a metal halide light but the bulb hasn't been changed in over a year and a half or more. Don't know if that makes a difference or not. I will post a picture of my tank if I can. I use Instant Ocean salt. I usually top off my tank with plain RO water and every other week I take out about 5 gallons and replace it with the salted RO water. I have tried mushrooms a couple of times but the just turned to a slimy mush. I would love to get some of those and some easy corals to grow someday. What do I need to do? All suggestions welcome. Any other infor you need just let me know. Thanks, Chris
This tank looks very clean for a 4-5yr old tank. Do you have a clean up crew? Have you ever had any alges grow on anything? Where did you get the rock and sand?