Wondering what's going on.

[Diogenes]

So even though my tank has been up and running since 5/25/20, not much is growing on my rocks, they are slightly green, and dull. I have seeded coralline three times in the past, and none resulted in growth. I have snails and plugs with coralline on them, brought from lfs, however, it does not spread. This, along with the fact that an SPS died in the tank, I thought maybe it was due to not having an ATO, nor a dosing pump for the bare minimum. So I got myself an ATO for RODI, and I also have been dosing kalkwasser for a few weeks now. However, nothing changed, and another SPS is currently dying and turning the same color as my stones. I believe these issues are related, I'm just not sure what it is that I'm doing, or maybe not doing that's causing this. If any of you have been through something similar and can share what you know, I would appreciate it.


Tank test was done on 10/24/21:

Ammonia: 0.2 (IDK if it is the tank or the test, it has never shown to be 0)
Nitrite: 0.0
Nitrate: 0.0
PH: 8
Salinity: 1.024
Temp: set to 77, ~1 lower
Phos ULR: 11
Alk (dkh): 8.7
Calcium: 450
Magn: 1350
Running on a single Radeon G5 xr30 (for now.)

 

[Diogenes]

Running at 74%

 

[amado]

I know in our heads 6months feels like a long time but for a reef tank it’s still
A very short time. I wouldnt introduce anymore coral until your tank is stable and growing coraline. I would test my salinity and alk as much is possible to make sure the ato and doser is working properly

 

[Diogenes]

Sorry bout the typo, it's 5/21/2020. But I'll consider keeping a close eye on the parameters you mentioned.

I know in our heads 6months feels like a long time but for a reef tank it’s still
A very short time. I would introduce anymore coral until your tank is stable and growing coraline. I would test my salinity and alk as much is possible to make sure the ato and doser is working properly

 

[DYIguy]

I don't if there is a way to speed up coralline growth, but I do know the bottles of coralline are a waste of money- it seems to a a timeline of it's own

 

[Diogenes]

I don't if there is a way to speed up coralline growth, but I do know the bottles of coralline are a waste of money- it seems to a a timeline of it's own

Are they? Have tried them twice now. Hmm

 

[DYIguy]

Are they? Have tried them twice now. Hmm

I tried once with no growth at all, tried brushing/ scraping it off plugs with similar results, also added a piece of live rock completely encrusted in it- when it's ready to grow it will. Also if you dip or spray plugs/ rock with peroxide it kills the coralline

 

[Diogenes]

Interesting, i have been doing Beyer dip, maybe it has a similar effect? Idk.

 

[DYIguy]

I've also noticed that coralline prefers plastic/acrylic to glass. I have it growing on my wave makers, heater and acrylic overflow and not on the glass- could black attract it?

 

[ericrodriguez]

If you scrape the little bit that it’s already growing, that one it’s going to grow anywhere it lands. Consider slowdown the flow for a little bit when doing so

 

[Diogenes]

If you scrape the little bit that it’s already growing, that one it’s going to grow anywhere it lands. Consider slowdown the flow for a little bit when doing so

Aye, I have done that as well. Funny thing is after scraping off the shell, or rock, I placed them over my rocks just in case as an extra measure, and the Coraline that was leftover on them are still visible and looks alive to me. However the damn things will not spread lol.

 

[ericrodriguez]

If it’s alive will grow at some point

 

[radiata]

I recollect that there are products out there for jump starting coralline growth. I believe they're all heavy in strontium...

 

[amado]

Do you have an urchin. They will eat all your coralline algae.

 

[DangerDave]

What are your phosphates? That nitrate you listed is zero. You need some nutrients in there…but you’ll have issues with excessive nutrients also.

 

[eli smoke]

Give it time, it will grow then you will wish it wasn’t. Takes quite a while for the tank to be ready for it. I had good success with arc reef adding different colors. I had my back glass almost fully covered and had to replace my top brace, so drained half the tank, after over a year the coralline still hasn’t grown back.

 

[Diogenes]

What are your phosphates? That nitrate you listed is zero. You need some nutrients in there…but you’ll have issues with excessive nutrients also.

No urchin and phosphate = 0.033726 ppm. I wonder if I should remove some of my Chaeto. They are not big or anything, but I wonder if it's not leaving enough nutrients in the water for everything else...