Guidance Please!

bd_scott · Dec 8, 2021

Thank you for your interest!

I have two "smaller" pericula clowns and a live rock with a bunch of mushrooms. I recently upgraded tanks, switching from a 10 gal (yikes) to a 29 gallon. I had really started to neglect the tank before I made this switch, so the condition had gotten pretty poor. I really want to start seeing more purple algae growth and ensure I have healthy mushrooms. I really want to get to a point where I can get some anemones, but I thought it would be good if I could make sure I have a good grip on my current invertebrates before doing so. This is especially because I didn't incorporate much of the old water in the new tank, but I did transfer some of the gravel, and I'm thinking a lot about how the ecosystem still has to develop in this tank. I have phytoplankton ready to add but I haven't been able to decide if I should.

What steps can I take to promote coralline algae and good conditions for the mushrooms? I do have issues with my purple algae "whiting" and I have gotten it to improve before by adjusting how long I have my lights on, but would appreciate some input

I added a whole bag of agra-alive gravel and a phosphate removing sponge. Currently I test for KH, phosphates, nitrates, pH, and calcium. The parameters are:
14 dKH (I haven't been able to find what dKH I should shoot for)
0.5-1ppm phosphates
0 nitrates
440 ppm calcium (dosed up from 360)
8-8.2 pH

Also, is coralline algae in a bottle anything worth looking at?
Thanks again!

Chrisv. · Dec 8, 2021

bd_scott said:
Thank you for your interest!

I have two "smaller" pericula clowns and a live rock with a bunch of mushrooms. I recently upgraded tanks, switching from a 10 gal (yikes) to a 29 gallon. I had really started to neglect the tank before I made this switch, so the condition had gotten pretty poor. I really want to start seeing more purple algae growth and ensure I have healthy mushrooms. I really want to get to a point where I can get some anemones, but I thought it would be good if I could make sure I have a good grip on my current invertebrates before doing so. This is especially because I didn't incorporate much of the old water in the new tank, but I did transfer some of the gravel, and I'm thinking a lot about how the ecosystem still has to develop in this tank. I have phytoplankton ready to add but I haven't been able to decide if I should.

What steps can I take to promote coralline algae and good conditions for the mushrooms? I do have issues with my purple algae "whiting" and I have gotten it to improve before by adjusting how long I have my lights on, but would appreciate some input

I added a whole bag of agra-alive gravel and a phosphate removing sponge. Currently I test for KH, phosphates, nitrates, pH, and calcium. The parameters are:
14 dKH (I haven't been able to find what dKH I should shoot for)
0.5-1ppm phosphates
0 nitrates
440 ppm calcium (dosed up from 360)
8-8.2 pH

Also, is coralline algae in a bottle anything worth looking at?
Thanks again!

I used the helix bottled algae and had good luck. You may not need it if you already have some coralline growing though.

dk2nt9 · Dec 8, 2021

With 0 nitrates, I would go for 7-7.5 dKH. In high nitrates and phosphates tank, max 12 dKH, but 9-10 would be better, less harsh on animals IMO.

Feed more or dose nitrates to 5-10 ppm. What additive to use is in Reef Chemistry section. If you are in US, it's easier. Where bulk chemicals are not available, Brightwell NeoNitro or even Seachem Flourish Nitrogen can be used.

Phosphate better to be lower, in 0.03-0.1 ppm range, but in not SPS tank this is not that critical.

If you have to dose Ca and your salt mix has high alkalinity, maybe switch to a more suitable salt mix, with higher Can and lower Alk.