Coralline Die off

[sen5241b]

My pink coralline is dying off over the last 2 or 3 months. Its gets replaced by a light green coat on the rock. It seems to have mostly died where it gets direct light from my 150 watt MH. Shaded areas have generally tended to keep the color better. Also, my alk is always on the low side like 6 or 7 dkh and coralline uses up alk a lot. Anybody seen a coralline die off like this?

I am currently trying to raise my way alk up by adding high doses of a Seachem alk supplement.

 

[daugherty]

it will do that with intense light most coraline in our tanks is from deep water. but it will come back. i started to get some bright orange coraline

 

[sen5241b]

Continue to raise alk? (I've been seeing hot pink coralline lately)

 

[bjohanson1234]

try to keep alk between 8 and 12 dkh. Obviously, the more stable the better. I had the same problem when I began doing weekly water changes vs when I got around to it water changes. The old water had a yellow tint to it and each water change the tint was less and less. SO the light got more intense. It took a bit of time for it to come back, but it is.

Brian

 

[yote]

Sen,Instead a better buffer is baking soda,plus its cheaper.
Just bake it at 400 degrees for an hour and store in an air tight container.
Then use this Reef Chemistry Calculator to figure out the dosage.

 

[sen5241b]

Both excellent suggestions. I admit I've been doing only a 20% change once a month. I'm thinking now the coralline die off has more than one factor, alk, light, water quality. Can coralline get too much light or the wrong kind?

You see a lot of debates in this hobby (and science in general) about what is "the" cause of something is but in science many things are multi-factored.

 

[bjohanson1234]

its just like coral. If it isnt gradually exposed to light, it will be shocked. Then it will get used to it and come back.

 

[winyfrog]

How old are your bulbs? Phosphates? nitrates? magnesium? coralline requires the same things that SPS needs keep this in mind when trouble shooting.

The hirer you keep your alk the less coraline will grow. Ideally if you keep it around 9-11 as well as your calcium at 420-450.

 

[yote]

+1 Winy
Water quality has a lot to do with coralline growth.As does the light and the spectrium of the light.

 

[Melosu58]

What are your calcium, alk and magnesium readings. These play a big part in your coralline.