4 month mark, couple of questions

[Danno]

I've had my 90G tank for 4 months now. I've made a few mistakes along the way......I lost a sponge, and dropped a large magnet cleaner on a plate that damaged it, but I haven't lost any fish and things are going pretty smooth at this point.
A few questions:

1- I still don't have any coralline algae? Is it still too early at this point?

2- I've had a nice piece of frogspawn for a few months now. While it doesn't show any ill effects and it's thriving, it's lost all it's color and is pretty much beige.
Is there any way to get it's color back? I have 2 14K M.H. lights that are on 10 hours a day.
Any suggestions?

3- Once I have my coralline established, I'd like to get a tang. The tang should be the last fish that I add, correct?

Thanks for the help, as always.

 

[Behrmon]

Can you post params such as CA, ALK & Mag? How old are the bulbs? What wattage? How far off the water?

sorry for all the ?'s

 

[afboundguy]

1) What are you alk/calc/mag at? All three need to be in range for coraline to thrive... And there isn't really a definitive timeline for when you should see coraline...

2) Again alk/calc/mag would help. Where is it placed under the lights? (high/middle/low?) What kind of fish do you have in the tank? Some might be picking on it...

3) You don't need coraline algae to have a tang. I'd be more concerend with how the current fish would interact with the tang so again a fish list would be nice. And I think it all depends on how aggressive the tang is. I would refrain from adding a second tang, but that's just me, and if it's not a really aggressive tang you could add other fish but again depends on what other fish you have in there and how many you have...

 

[Danno]

Ok, this is what I have at the moment. I just tested and my calc is at 400, my alk is 1.7, and I'm ashamed to admit that I don't even have a Mag test. My bad. I'll get one tomorrow. My 14K lights are as old as the tank, 4 months, and the wattage is 250 x 2.
I have 2 clowns, 2 firefish, 1 blenny, 1 pink square, and they all get along fine. I would think that adding a tang would be ok , or can I add another fish first?
Overall I guess things are coming along fine, but if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

 

[MikeG]

What units is the alk measured in? It is either low or extremely low depending on what you are measuring and coulld be the cause for the poor coloration.

 

[stingythingy45]

"my alk is 1.7"

Huh???
If it's meq / l , dKH or ppm you're still low.
If I were you,i'd put the whole tang idea on hold and get to know water parameters better.A lot of times,I've seen new folksl want to stock their tanks right away and put off needed equipment such as refractors,and kits to test water.This can be very expensive and hard lessons learned
How do your check salinity?

 

[JohnK]

I agree, sounds like the alk is pretty low, and this can cause a lot of issues with corals.

**Don't crank it up overnight though. Low alk is concerning, but rapid changes can cause bigger problems. Raise it gradually**

What have you been doing to maintain Ca, and alk so far?

Also, FWIW, if your Mg is low, it will be very difficult to keep Ca and alk in balance and both in range.

Chances are, your at 4 months and don't have a good dosing routine worked out yet. (I assume this as it would be a very normal place to be at, at the 4 month mark )

 

[mak3mydae]

Hm, i dont have much coraline either and i was wondering the same thing... but my alk is 10 and cal is 400+ no idea on mag though

 

[Danno]

Ok, I have some updated information.
I do check my salinity with a refractor and it's never been an issue.
My ALK is at 1.7 m/l, which according to my test chart is right where it should be.
My calcium is 400 mg/lt, but there wasn't a recommended level, any suggestions?
Also, my Mag is at 1200 mg/l, and I also don't know what the recommended level is, which is why I'm here.
I did purchase some Seachem Reef builder to raise Calc and Alk, but I'm waiting to hear your suggestions on levels and dosage.
I'm still new at this and my terminology isn't the greatest. I never thought I'd become a mad scientist but I find that it goes with the territory.

I appreciate any and all advice.

 

[nichols]

You get to be a mad scientist, master plumber/ electrician/ carpenter and biologist all at the same time.

 

[Danno]

I'm not an electrician.....I paid them months ago to install 2 30 amp breakers so I wouldn't blow up my house with this new hobby of mine

 

[JohnK]

Ca at 400 is good. Target range is 400-450.
For Mg the target range is 1250-1350.

What test kit says that 1.7 meg/l is good? (What exact kit do you have?)

That would be @ 4.8 dKH, whereas NSW would be more like 2.8 meg/l or 8 dKH.

 

[DoctaQ]

dose alk first, since your ca is ok
seachem advantage calcium has magnesium in it, enough so that without additional dosing i dont have trouble keeping my alk and ca balanced, ive been doing this stuff for about half a year with weekly small water changes

 

[spaceship]

Also 8hr max on the Halides could also be the color loss fix....IMO....Also i have a hippo in awesome health i would not mind selling... hes in my 50 and i have coraline on the wall in a month rocks covered in it help growth alot!!! look for purple on LR at LPS helps more then purple up!!!

 

[MikeG]

I am unaware of what m/L is for an alk measurement.

You could have mg/L which should give you a result in the hundreds,
meq/l which should be around 3 or so or dkh which should be around 8 or 9,
and finally ppm should also be in the hundreds.

 

[stingythingy45]

Ca at 400 is good. Target range is 400-450.
For Mg the target range is 1250-1350.

What test kit says that 1.7 meg/l is good? (What exact kit do you have?)

That would be @ 4.8 dKH, whereas NSW would be more like 2.8 meg/l or 8 dKH.

Yes,I'm dying to know what test kit says 4.7 dkh is good for alk.
This way I can definitely avoid that one.
This is a very important level,Danno.There's really 3 that are most definitely important.
IMO,alk is probably a close second if not first to have control of on that short list.

 

[MikeG]

IMO,alk is probably a close second if not first to have control of on that short list.

Definatetely first in my book after salinity and temperature. Proper alkalinity allows proper pH. Calcium and magnesium are far less important as far as coral health but are improtant for stability and growth.

 

[stingythingy45]

Definatetely first in my book after salinity and temperature. Proper alkalinity allows proper pH. Calcium and magnesium are far less important as far as coral health but are improtant for stability and growth.

Absolutley agree.There are some parameters that one can let slide,this is not one.I suspect that the balance between his alk/calcium is off.I have done this myself by dosing too much calcium and not enough alk supplement.Perhaps the test instructions are for both fresh and SW.
I would definitely suggest the the OP takes a smple to a local fish store(LFS).Or a local reefer for retesting.Persistant low alk levels can crash a tank pretty fast.

 

[Danno]

Ok, my alk test kit is Red Sea..
Here is the chart that tells me my alk is at 1.7 "milli equaivalents per liter".

http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/yy229/Danno99/scan0002.jpg

 

[MikeG]

Ok, my alk test kit is Red Sea..
Here is the chart that tells me my alk is at 1.7 "milli equaivalents per liter".

http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/yy229/Danno99/scan0002.jpg

That chart is pretty misleading and corals will not do well at those levels that it says are ok. Your alkalinity is pretty low. Most people around here display alkalinity in dkh, to convert you multiply by 2.8 so yours is 4.76 dkh. You want it to be around 8-10 dkh so on your test kit in the range of 2.9 to 3.6 meq/l.

Read up on randys 2 part recipe. You can use baking soda to raise your alkalinity.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

Your calcium although a bit low is in an acceptable range so I would just do the alkalinity part of the 2 part dosing and slowly bring up the alkalinity to a more acceptable range. This should improve things.