Hey guys, I'm a new reefer that started up his first tank just about a year ago now. I can't seem to get coralline algae to take off in my tank! It's a 75 gal display, 30 gal sump system. I run a reef octopus brand protein skimmer sized for 100 gallons, a 300w heater, filter socks, and koralia 3rd generation powerheads in my tank. For lighting I have a pair of AquaIllumination Prime HD LED fixtures that I usually run around 60% power. I have a pair of clownfish, a royal gramma basslet, a yellowail damselfish, and a cleaner goby. I have two zoa frags, a seriatopora, trumpet coral, green star polyps, two ricordeas, favia, chalice, and a few other frags I can't remember off the top of my head. I have a sandsifter starfish, many crabs and snails, and various other marine life like sponges etc.
As I am a new reefer with little experience, I have some questions that have been bugging me for months that I'd like to be able to discuss with other experienced hobbyists.
Even though my tank has been setup for more than a year at this point, I have never been able to detect any amount of Nitrates or Phosphates. My other chemicals are in check. Here are images of my water parameters over time (I use an app called Aquarimate to keep track of this):
All of these were tested with API brand test kits (with the exception of magnesium which was tested with Salifert) as well as a refractometer. I understand it's good to keep nutrients like Nitrates and Phosphates low in a reef tank, but surely 0ppm is too little. Marine life still needs these elements, and I've read that water conditions can be detrimental to coral health with 0ppm phosphate? I have seen some growth in my corals but not crazy growth. I feed them reef chilli on the regular.
The main advice I'm seeking is how to get coralline algae to grow in my tank. I know coralline takes a long time to take hold, but my tank has been running for a year and I've seen no spreading of coralline algae on to my rocks. I've introduced dozens of different strains on frag plugs, crab shells, live rocks, and I've even introduced live coralline spores from ARC reef's coralline algae in a bottle to no avail. The coralline algae that I introduce to my tank just fades and does not spread. This is especially frustrating because I see coralline algae start to spread in my quarantine tank after having it introduced for only two weeks! My quarantine has worse water parameters than my display and is much less stable yet the coralline is growing nicely.
I know this seems like a non problem but having brown/white rocks in my tank is seriously inhibiting my enjoyment of the hobby, as I crave the look of the bright purple colored rocks that I see when I introduce live rock into my system. Also, I believe that if coralline algae isn't growing that it is a sign of a much bigger underlying problem in my water chemistry that I'd like to address.
I appreciate any advice,
Nicholas
As I am a new reefer with little experience, I have some questions that have been bugging me for months that I'd like to be able to discuss with other experienced hobbyists.
Even though my tank has been setup for more than a year at this point, I have never been able to detect any amount of Nitrates or Phosphates. My other chemicals are in check. Here are images of my water parameters over time (I use an app called Aquarimate to keep track of this):
All of these were tested with API brand test kits (with the exception of magnesium which was tested with Salifert) as well as a refractometer. I understand it's good to keep nutrients like Nitrates and Phosphates low in a reef tank, but surely 0ppm is too little. Marine life still needs these elements, and I've read that water conditions can be detrimental to coral health with 0ppm phosphate? I have seen some growth in my corals but not crazy growth. I feed them reef chilli on the regular.
The main advice I'm seeking is how to get coralline algae to grow in my tank. I know coralline takes a long time to take hold, but my tank has been running for a year and I've seen no spreading of coralline algae on to my rocks. I've introduced dozens of different strains on frag plugs, crab shells, live rocks, and I've even introduced live coralline spores from ARC reef's coralline algae in a bottle to no avail. The coralline algae that I introduce to my tank just fades and does not spread. This is especially frustrating because I see coralline algae start to spread in my quarantine tank after having it introduced for only two weeks! My quarantine has worse water parameters than my display and is much less stable yet the coralline is growing nicely.
I know this seems like a non problem but having brown/white rocks in my tank is seriously inhibiting my enjoyment of the hobby, as I crave the look of the bright purple colored rocks that I see when I introduce live rock into my system. Also, I believe that if coralline algae isn't growing that it is a sign of a much bigger underlying problem in my water chemistry that I'd like to address.
I appreciate any advice,
Nicholas
O3:-X.
