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High alk, need help


Adasfish

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So I've had my 20 gallon up and running for about a year now, I use a aquaclear with chemipure blue and filter floss. I have about 20 lbs of dry rock and a few pieces of live rock. I thought that the dry rock would've been covered in coralline algae now but it isn't. That should've been the first sign that something was off, but about 5 ,months ago I decided to buy a few frags.(2 Zoa,1 torch coral) and they haven't really done anything. They haven't died but there really not growing either, so I finally bought a alk,mag,cal salfert test kit( something I should've done first) the first readings I took two weeks ago were alk 11. Cal 500 mag 1300. The guy at the LFS said just don't do a water change till the levels come down. I haven't done one for two weeks and now I'm at alk 10.9 mag 1260 cal 420. When I do water changes its only about 20% and I use Ro water from the LFS with reef crystals. My nitrates are 0ppm but I still get green algae on my dry rock instead of coralline does anyone have any ideas why my tank seems off? And do those levels seem okay, if so why aren't my corals growing?

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So I've had my 20 gallon up and running for about a year now, I use a aquaclear with chemipure blue and filter floss. I have about 20 lbs of dry rock and a few pieces of live rock. I thought that the dry rock would've been covered in coralline algae now but it isn't. That should've been the first sign that something was off, but about 5 ,months ago I decided to buy a few frags.(2 Zoa,1 torch coral) and they haven't really done anything. They haven't died but there really not growing either, so I finally bought a alk,mag,cal salfert test kit( something I should've done first) the first readings I took two weeks ago were alk 11. Cal 500 mag 1300. The guy at the LFS said just don't do a water change till the levels come down. I haven't done one for two weeks and now I'm at alk 10.9 mag 1260 cal 420. When I do water changes its only about 20% and I use Ro water from the LFS with reef crystals. My nitrates are 0ppm but I still get green algae on my dry rock instead of coralline does anyone have any ideas why my tank seems off? And do those levels seem okay, if so why aren't my corals growing?

if i can recall correctly the base level of reef crystals is about 12, it gets used up by coral and such and depletes, then when water change time rolls around you replenish what was lost, its pretty impossible to get an ALK to rise higher than what the salt provides unles you dose with something. your params are within acceptable limits, what are your temps, salinity, feeding schedual, any other live stock, lighting and anything else you havent listed or i asked for. you said you started with dry rock, if its been a year it should be fully cured live rock unless you take the rock out and bleach it. green algae will happen in any tank, its part of the ecosystem of reef tanks. look for stuff like phosphates, and such. ill say it again, the levels in your tank cant go any higher than what reef crystal have unless you are adding more in.

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What's the current level of phosphate? If you don't have a good low range test kit (like a Hanna ULR Phosphorus Checker), you should get one.

 

Were your frags covered with coralline? If not, that explains why you don't have any coralline (you need to introduce it first).

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You also should focus on Nitrites more so then Nitrates... Low levels of Nitrates are not a bad thing and actually quite normal... You're parameters are also not really scary high and in my opinion waiting to do water changes is kinda counterintuitive... just try switching your salt or something simple. No need to over think the situation it usually is just something as simply as your salt mix might be shit... Good Luck

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Temp Is 78, salinity 1.025. I have a clown, banded coral shrimp two snails and a conch. I feed every other day and I have a few small pieces of live rock which have been in the t for about 8 months. I'll try switching salt see if that does anything, just find it odd if that's the only thing wrong. Could high phosphate cause this many problems?

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Nothing about this seems off. Nothing's using up alk/cal/mag at a fast pace, so the levels won't move very quickly. They're reflecting the salt that you've put in the tank.

 

If the corals aren't growing, there's a limiting factor - your alk/cal/mag aren't the problem, so it's either nutrients or light.

 

If you're not seeing coralline algae, then again: make sure it's somewhere in the tank first (it doesn't spontaneously materialize after a certain amount of time, it gets introduced into the tank and allowed to take over). Then make sure nutrients and lighting are adequate for growth.

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Could high phosphate cause this many problems?

Besides causing the rock to be coated with micro algae (a poor surface for coralline), high phosphate can inhibit calcification of coralline, as well as hard corals.

 

You must keep the Phosphate level in the live rock grow out tank very low. Protein skimming is important in the grow out tanks because it controls phosphate. Make-up water can be a source of phosphate. You may need a reverse osmosis or deionization system if your water source has phosphates. Feeding is the most common source of high phosphate levels. We use a phosphate removing filter in tanks that are not producing coralline algae fast enough.

source: http://www.garf.org/coralline.html

 

However, phosphate can also supply energy to coral's symbiotic algae. With the limited amount and diversity of food in our tanks, some measurable phosphate can actually benefit coral growth. It's recommended to keep phosphate between 0.01 and 0.03 ppm to provide the zooxanthellae with nutrients that provide energy for coral growth, while not encouraging massive algae blooms.

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What reef crystals are you using?

 

I tested my mixed water when my mag dropped to 1040 and low and behold, my water was 1140 for mag, 400 for ca, and 7 for alk. It could be the salt.

 

Your numbers seem to be right where they need to be.

 

As stated, to get coralline you must seed the tank with it by either getting rock thats encrusted, a plug thats encrusted or a few shavings from an established tank. Drop it in a high flow area and it will take off.

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I know my lighting is fine, I'm running a AI prime. But as far as nutrients go, I don't know. Should you be adding suppliments? The few pieces of live rock I have in the tank (three about the size of an apple) are right in a high flow area right next to the dry rock. So you think they would've seeded by now.

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Should you be adding suppliments? The few pieces of live rock I have in the tank (three about the size of an apple) are right in a high flow area right next to the dry rock. So you think they would've seeded by now.

Your element parameters look fine, you only dose supplements when you need to replenish elements when they are low. After a year, the life from the live rock has reproduced and spread to the dry rock.

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Alright well I'll try changing salts and see if that does anything, or at least test a fresh batch of salt water after I mix it to see where the levels are at. Thanks for the advice

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What are you exactly trying to accomplish?

 

Your parameters are in normal range, there isn't a need to dose or change your salt. When you start to see your numbers drop outside of the normal ranges, then its time to be concerned and evaluate the cause.

 

Right now your numbers are't an issue.

 

If you are trying to get coralline algae-changing salt and increasing/decreasing your parameters is not going to do that.

 

If you had a ton of coralline to begin with and suddenly it started dying off then I would say look at your parameters

 

You need to introduce that algae in to the tank.

 

1. It must be on a piece of liverock in your tank to spread to other rocks/glass

 

2. It must be on a frag plug to spread in the tank

 

3. Get some shavings from someone and put it in the tank to spread.

 

I wouldn't recommend changing salts or dosing if there is no need to.

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