Corals aren't growing!

[Acox28]

I have a red sea reefer 350 that has been up and running for 4 months now. All of my rock has turned brown for a month or so now and not sure if this is diatoms or something else. My corals don't seem to happy they aren't really growing at all. I check my levels every few days and everything is in line with where I think it should be. Calcium 400, mag 1350, dkh 8.5, salinity 1.025. Phosphate 0 and nitrates 0. I am also running biopellets as well as an algae scrubber that doesn' grow much algae at all most of the algae is in the display tank. I'e heard you shouldn't run biopellets with having an algae scrubber but I figured it wouldn't hurt to have both. I am just confused with what I'm doing wrong and how I can get growth and color out of my mostly Lps tank

 

[Maritimer]

Phosphate and nitrate at zero could be part of the problem.

Corals need small amounts of both as nutrient for themselves and the zooxanthellae inside 'em.

~Bruce

 

[Zagreus]

Also did you start with live rock or dead rock? In addition to the above being absolutely correct.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Your water is too clean. Your corals need some N03, like at least 5ppm and a trace of P04. I would take the bio pellets off line and let the system get a "little dirty".

N03 should be greater than P04 always. Reverse is a recipe for nuisance algae to grow.

There's a lot of threads explaining how to raise your levels here on reef2reef, but removing your bio pellets first and allow your system to go for awhile and test to see if they have risen. If not, look into dosing potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Phosphate and nitrate at zero could be part of the problem.

Corals need small amounts of both as nutrient for themselves and the zooxanthellae inside 'em.

~Bruce

+1. No3 and Po4 is the easy way to feed a coral. Otherwise, taking a ULNS approach through bacteria based nutrient reduction requires daily dosing of aminos, phyto, coral foods, and of course provided fish and feeding them.

 

[Acox28]

Also did you start with live rock or dead rock? In addition to the above being absolutely correct.

I started with dead rock

 

[Zagreus]

Ohh yea and don't beat yourself up, all of us had been through this or most. Some are just reef jedi's...I'm not one of them.

 

[reeferfoxx]

I am also running biopellets as well as an algae scrubber that doesn' grow much algae at all most of the algae is in the display tank.

You said it's brown algae? Dusty or snotty kind possibly?

 

[Acox28]

+1. No3 and Po4 is the easy way to feed a coral. Otherwise, taking a ULNS approach through bacteria based nutrient reduction requires daily dosing of aminos, phyto, coral foods, and of course provided fish and feeding them.

I have been dosing red sea reef energy daily as well as feeding my fish 2 times a day and direct feed my corals with reef roids once a week and I still dont see good coloration or growth

 

[Zagreus]

I have a thread on this and I will forward to you later. I'm at lego land right now if you can understand where I'm at mentally lol....You have a really new clean tank that needs to seasoning. This takes time. Is this your first saltwater tank.

 

[Acox28]

You said it's brown algae? Dusty or snotty kind possibly?

It's like a fuzzy looking brown algae on everywhere the light hits

 

[reeferfoxx]

It's like a fuzzy looking brown algae on everywhere the light hits

You'll have to take a picture of it.

I have been dosing red sea reef energy daily as well as feeding my fish 2 times a day and direct feed my corals with reef roids once a week and I still dont see good coloration or growth

I'm not sure the amount you're dosing but Red Sea says 6ml per 25 gal for ULNS. Your tank is ULNS.

What kind of lights are you running?

 

[Acox28]

I have a thread on this and I will forward to you later. I'm at lego land right now if you can understand where I'm at mentally lol....You have a really new clean tank that needs to seasoning. This takes time. Is this your first saltwater tank.

Oh ok mayb i should turn off the biopellets for a little? No this is my 2nd reef tank and the first time i didn't have much luck so I switched back to fish only. I have been keeping saltwater fish for about 8 years but never had much success with reef

 

[Acox28]

You'll have to take a picture of it.


I'm not sure the amount you're dosing but Red Sea says 6ml per 25 gal for ULNS. Your tank is ULNS.

What kind of lights are you running?

Oh ok I have been only doing about 3ml because I didn't want to grow anymore brown algae. Im running 2 aqua illumination hydra led lights

 

[CoralReefer1019]

you doing too much, take biopellets and algae scrubber offline, focus on keeping Alk, Ca and Mg stable along with salinity. Do your weekly water changes, feed your fish once per day and have good flow and lighting

 

[reeferfoxx]

Oh ok I have been only doing about 3ml because I didn't want to grow anymore brown algae.

Brown algae on a 4 month old tank could be a number of things. Some bad and some ok. Everything in life eats, so if you're restricting food and nutrients, it all trickles down the food pyramid(copepods, amphipods, isopods etc etc. Bacteria itself needs no3 and po4. In fact your bio-pellets are consuming most of the available nutrients before anything else. That said, if the brown algae grows more when dosing the red sea energy then you might have a bad form of brown algae that would require you to stop using bio-pellets, turf scrubber, and dosing the red sea energy.

 

[Acox28]

Brown algae on a 4 month old tank could be a number of things. Some bad and some ok. Everything in life eats, so if you're restricting food and nutrients, it all trickles down the food pyramid(copepods, amphipods, isopods etc etc. Bacteria itself needs no3 and po4. In fact your bio-pellets are consuming most of the available nutrients before anything else. That said, if the brown algae grows more when dosing the red sea energy then you might have a bad form of brown algae that would require you to stop using bio-pellets, turf scrubber, and dosing the red sea energy.

Thanks for the advice. I also don't do any water changes with how I have my system set up I didn't see the need for them maybe I should reconsider?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Thanks for the advice. I also don't do any water changes with how I have my system set up I didn't see the need for them maybe I should reconsider?

I think there are many ways to reefing. I think a zero water change system is achievable. However, don't take this wrong, I don't think you've grasped the concept yet.

I will say, if you have the bad form of brown algae, doing zero water changes will benefit. Because after removing the pellets and ATS, you'll want nutrients and detritus to build up.

In the mean time, I would start by researching Ultra low nutrient systems. Learn the proper definition of it. Understand trace elements and tell yourself to never dose something you can't test for. I know some reefers that keep ULNS and do zero water changes. However, they dose a series of additives and test like mad scientists for the first few months.

 

[CoralReefer1019]

Thanks for the advice. I also don't do any water changes with how I have my system set up I didn't see the need for them maybe I should reconsider?

I like water changes it helps remove and replenish trace elements. I use Fritz PRO Salt it suffices my water levels

 

[reeferfoxx]

I like water changes it helps remove and replenish trace elements. I use Fritz PRO Salt it suffices my water levels

I hate water changes but I do them lol ... occasionally...