Dirty tank!!

I use rodi water from the lfs. Don't have a test kit to test for tds.

Tds Meters are inexpensive. You can buy a hand held one or one that would install on the outlet of a ro,di system. Consider purchasing a unit of your own to ensure your starting with pure H2O. For around 100 to 150.00 you can purchase one to get the job done. Silica in the water is what my problem was years ago. The di part of the system removes it. I use synthetic salt with extra calcium,magnesium ect added in for corals and inverts. I have had failsafe results for years. Go to You tube and watch some of BRS (Bulk Reef Supply) videos on H2O quality it will help. Also more videos on substrate. I don't have any. I feel it traps Detritus and creates a ticking time bomb for a host of problems . Recently started using Kalkwasser. Results are very good . Keeping Calcium ,Alk.Magnesium,PH at stable levels in my mixed reef tank. Coralline algae grows on live rock like crazy with no diatoms . Sincerely hope this helps you. Happy Reefing.
 
Doesn't look bad

Try adding a nice purple rock or 2 and clean sand bed

When you clean the sand bed -water change

Your rock looks like it curing which is a good sign
 
Doesn't look bad

Try adding a nice purple rock or 2 and clean sand bed

When you clean the sand bed -water change

Your rock looks like it curing which is a good sign

All of the right side of the rockwork started as purple.
IMG_4466.JPG
 
so it started as live rock with coralline algae?

No. I bought the purple live rock at the lfs for around $6.99 a lb. bought 10 lbs of it and 10 lbs of normal. It was just colored purple somehow. It isn't Coraline algea. Also a lot of the purple I paid for is gone. :/ oh well. Learned a lesson I guess.
 
No. I bought the purple live rock at the lfs for around $6.99 a lb. bought 10 lbs of it and 10 lbs of normal. It was just colored purple somehow. It isn't Coraline algea. Also a lot of the purple I paid for is gone. :/ oh well. Learned a lesson I guess.
that is odd it disappeared.

Yous is stock lighting? what tank and light again please?
 
I have the Coralife Biocube 29 and stock lighting. Purchased it in September of 2016 new from marine depot.
cool. Ill look up your lights. I had the 28g jbj led cube. the stock lights were SUPER intense, poor spectrum IMO but intense.

are your led?
 
It's a t5 lighting with 10k white and blue is 65k I think. Stock lighting wasn't enough for me. I had to remove the hood and at an ai prime. But the stock lighting is good for lps and soft corals.
 
It's a t5 lighting with 10k white and blue is 65k I think. Stock lighting wasn't enough for me. I had to remove the hood and at an ai prime. But the stock lighting is good for lps and soft corals.
it appears the prime is quite powerful. the absence of coralline would not be surprising at higher pars. when time comes a lux meter would be in order IMo.
It may surprise you but I have zoas xenia gorgs palys and acros and stylos all under the same amount of light at the top of the tank.. round 500+ par

IMO at high par coralline doesn't grow.
so if that last pic is most recent your prob in the 200 350 par, as a guess.
 
it appears the prime is quite powerful. the absence of coralline would not be surprising at higher pars. when time comes a lux meter would be in order IMo.
It may surprise you but I have zoas xenia gorgs palys and acros and stylos all under the same amount of light at the top of the tank.. round 500+ par

IMO at high par coralline doesn't grow.
so if that last pic is most recent your prob in the 200 350 par, as a guess.

Yeah that's about right. The stock lighting in the biocube is great but limited to on or off so it's the same par all day. I peak at about 400 with the ai but I'm not sure what the stock. Biocube puts out.
 
Yeah that's about right. The stock lighting in the biocube is great but limited to on or off so it's the same par all day. I peak at about 400 with the ai but I'm not sure what the stock. Biocube puts out.
that would also be part of balancing the tanks light to nutrient ratio too. id you have a lot of light the corals suck up the nutrints really fast. (too fast they bleach)
thats how instead of using GFO to rehab my cube and reduce the Po4, I used high light and too many corals.
 
I had bleaching at first but now they are doing fine. But it makes sense. I never had a problem with bleaching when I had the stock lighting on the tank.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

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