Coralline algae

[Javen]

Even with the conditioner

 

[sawdonkey]

It all what it is suppose to be. can you have too much calcium or something. I have a 125 gal. With 10 pounds of live rock (that stuff is too expensive ) anyway so that is probably a little bit of the problem

I understand you think it is "all what it is supposed to be" but maybe what you think it should be is not what it actually should be? If you tell us the parameters, we could help a little more or at least rule out that water chemistry is the problem. And yes, you can have too much calcium, and it would precipitate, but I doubt that is your problem.

The reason why people are telling you that you need more rock is because you don't have enough surface area for biological filtration. Without enough biological filtration, you likely to have too much ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in your tank. Coralline won't grow well in that environment.

Good luck.

 

[Javen]

I think I found the problem it's with the KH do y'all know a good way to raid this

 

[haleyf1024]

You will need to stop using the tap water, thats the first no-no marine hobbyists learn. RO/DI water costs $.5-1 for a gallon, or get an RO machine to do it yourself (I buy my water ) As for the kH, I use Red Sea Foundation B for that, works great!

 

[saltyphish]

Hey Javen, welcome to the hobby. As a few people mentioned there are a few things you can change to help. First definitely stop using tap water. Tap water has many extras that can cause water quality problems and problem algae. Also you don't know what else is in the water that could cause other problems. Ro/di water is a must in this hobby. The salt mixes you buy list the parameters your water should have at certain measurements. It is designed to be mixed in ro/di water. As a substitute you can use distilled water (way better than tap) or look into purchasing it from your lfs (most sell it). If your planning on using liverock for your main filtration then as other people stated you need more. The common rule many people use for the amount of live rock is 1lb=1gal. The more surface area the more bacteria can grow. You will probably need to add more lights if you are going to have coral. Type of lighting in m opinion is pure preference when it comes to t5, mh, and leds. I have seen all 3 on successful tanks, just need the proper amount. Also a good way to seed coralline is scrape some off a piece of rock with some on it in the flow from your powerhead in your tank. A month and a half is a little early to see major growth. It took me 6 mths to really start seeing much. Your alk is low I believe you mentioned? What is your measurement? This link has some very good information in it https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/ne...guide-setting-up-saltwater-reef-aquarium.html. Feel free to post any other questions,