Funky, Coralline Dying?

Poorcollegereef · 03/16/2007, 09:46 AM

Yep, that is right. Over the last 2 to 3 days my coralline has been turning white. It is mostly along the back of the glass. It started from the middle and worked outwards. There is some death on the rocks but no where near as much. The tank has been â€œcycledâ€ for over 2 years, but was moved last August, so the Coralline completely covered the glass for a nice purple look, just not anymore.

About 3 or 4 weeks ago I had a fish die (did not catch it for a couple of days and had a ammonia spike) The ammonia nearly crashed my tank. Lost a few SPS frags, but the colonies survived, only loosing a few branches. That was followed by some algae problems so I added a fair amount of phosphate remover (Two Little Fishes Brand). As it sits right now, my across have/are currently recovering and polyps are extended. The other non-sps coral is healthy and was never as impacted about the fish death, now it is just the coralline that is being difficult. Would aggressive phosphate removal cause a coralline collapse? There has been no change in lighting or flow, as if that would matter.

The tanks parameters are:
1.026 SG
0 Nitrates
0 PO4 (undetectable)
420 Ca
1440 Mg
9.6 Alk
8.0-8.3 pH (occasionally I will see a 7.9 reading in the mornings)
78 Temp

Strange that the coralline would â€˜bleachâ€™ but I canâ€™t find a cause that would not affect my Acros as well. The only other thing I can think of it that I spilt foot powder on the carpet near by and vacuumed it up. Maybe some dust settled into the tank, but would Lamasil do that and not kill the other corals?

Thanks

Poorcollegereef · 03/16/2007, 03:44 PM

Has anyone had a coralline collapse or heard of such a thing?

sjfishguy · 03/16/2007, 04:36 PM

Check Mg levels. Its a trace element that many people neglect and has significant effects on coralline.

3D-Reef · 03/16/2007, 06:03 PM

Coralline algae needs good Ca,Alk,& Mg,but is an algae.So it needs a little N&P as well.If you suck out too much Po3 with a phosphate remover there might not be enough for the algae.If you've gotten rid of the H/A,try removing the phosphate remover to see what happens.Other than that it could be limited by Fe (iron),but dose spareingly,it doesn't take much.The idea is just to have it available.

Poorcollegereef · 03/16/2007, 06:05 PM

OK, well I double checked everything
MG =1410
pH 8.3
Alk 10.6

Alk might be a bit higher than normal since I dosed my two part about an hour before these readings but I wasn't planning to test, oh well.

I think it might the the phosphate remover or some introduced chemical.

sjfishguy · 03/16/2007, 08:08 PM

Sorry, didnt notice Mg on the original list. If the po4 remover is the only thing you did, its probably that. I know someone who used some sort of resin and it killed a few acros and everything else was fine. You never know.

03/16/2007, 09:46 AM	#1
Poorcollegereef Future Doc Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: DC Posts: 961	Funky, Coralline Dying? Yep, that is right. Over the last 2 to 3 days my coralline has been turning white. It is mostly along the back of the glass. It started from the middle and worked outwards. There is some death on the rocks but no where near as much. The tank has been â€œcycledâ€ for over 2 years, but was moved last August, so the Coralline completely covered the glass for a nice purple look, just not anymore. About 3 or 4 weeks ago I had a fish die (did not catch it for a couple of days and had a ammonia spike) The ammonia nearly crashed my tank. Lost a few SPS frags, but the colonies survived, only loosing a few branches. That was followed by some algae problems so I added a fair amount of phosphate remover (Two Little Fishes Brand). As it sits right now, my across have/are currently recovering and polyps are extended. The other non-sps coral is healthy and was never as impacted about the fish death, now it is just the coralline that is being difficult. Would aggressive phosphate removal cause a coralline collapse? There has been no change in lighting or flow, as if that would matter. The tanks parameters are: 1.026 SG 0 Nitrates 0 PO4 (undetectable) 420 Ca 1440 Mg 9.6 Alk 8.0-8.3 pH (occasionally I will see a 7.9 reading in the mornings) 78 Temp Strange that the coralline would â€˜bleachâ€™ but I canâ€™t find a cause that would not affect my Acros as well. The only other thing I can think of it that I spilt foot powder on the carpet near by and vacuumed it up. Maybe some dust settled into the tank, but would Lamasil do that and not kill the other corals? Thanks

03/16/2007, 04:36 PM	#3
sjfishguy Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Delray Beach, FL Posts: 2,212	Check Mg levels. Its a trace element that many people neglect and has significant effects on coralline. __________________ Rich nanoTOTM May '08 29 years saltwater, 19 years reefs Current Tank Info: 65 mixed reef

03/16/2007, 06:03 PM	#4
3D-Reef Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Wichita,Ks Posts: 602	Coralline algae needs good Ca,Alk,& Mg,but is an algae.So it needs a little N&P as well.If you suck out too much Po3 with a phosphate remover there might not be enough for the algae.If you've gotten rid of the H/A,try removing the phosphate remover to see what happens.Other than that it could be limited by Fe (iron),but dose spareingly,it doesn't take much.The idea is just to have it available. __________________ Seagrass,Mother nature's way of organic carbon dosing. "Nitrification is controlled primarily by 02 and nitrogen as ammonium supply, while denitrification is controlled by nitrate and organic carbon supply" Seagrasses 2006 Life on earth depends on plants-without plants,no life.Alf Jacob Nilsen Current Tank Info: 125 DT,135 grass fuge/sump;75g seagrass/seahorse tank 70 fuge/sump

03/16/2007, 08:08 PM	#6
sjfishguy Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Delray Beach, FL Posts: 2,212	Sorry, didnt notice Mg on the original list. If the po4 remover is the only thing you did, its probably that. I know someone who used some sort of resin and it killed a few acros and everything else was fine. You never know. __________________ Rich nanoTOTM May '08 29 years saltwater, 19 years reefs Current Tank Info: 65 mixed reef

03/16/2007, 03:44 PM	#2
Poorcollegereef Future Doc Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: DC Posts: 961	Has anyone had a coralline collapse or heard of such a thing?

03/16/2007, 06:05 PM	#5
Poorcollegereef Future Doc Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: DC Posts: 961	OK, well I double checked everything MG =1410 pH 8.3 Alk 10.6 Alk might be a bit higher than normal since I dosed my two part about an hour before these readings but I wasn't planning to test, oh well. I think it might the the phosphate remover or some introduced chemical.