Bleached Coraline Algae -A Sign Of......?

[DiverDude]

Ricky, Ricky, Ricky....

Alk is measuerd in Meq, not DKH. 2.5 is fine
Mg is a tad low but that's not the issue, I don't think.

My comment about replacing the bio-pellets with PhosBan was because I only have space for the single reactor and I can't run both in 1 reactor. I know the pellets aren't the issue but if phosphates are, PhosBan may be a better use of the reactor for a while.

I hear you on flow but it's the dead sea hare that's in the lowest flow part of the tank that's the real problem. Once that's out, I hope to see improvement (if, in fact, I can find it). I'll try to open up the rockwork a bit at the same time if I can.

Originally Posted by globaldesigns

Hey Mark,

Firstly you should get your parameters in check, the following are out of whack:

ALK is to low - the acceptable range is 7-12
Ca is high, but not a biggie - 400 is optimal so I wouldn't worry about that
Mg - way too low, acceptable value is 1350 - plus if you Mg is low, most likely your Strontium is also

Before you can really try to figure out what is the cause, you need your tank stable, right now you have many things not in check, and may be causing some of your issues. I personally don't think HA is related to the above, but again you can't really make good decisions when others things are not in check.

In regards to the BioPellets, they are not the cause... But you can remove if you wish. I just think you will be wasting time there, as you need to stabalize things first, so work on those parameters.

As we also discussed, you are looking at band-aid solutions to things like your HA... Instead you need to look at the solution to the overall problem not a quick band-aid to assist, as the original problem will still be there. In regards to HA, I suspected it to be flow, of which you probably don't have enough, especially through the live rock.... Dead areas can be breading grounds for lots of things (Nitrates, etc) and then they leach into the rest of the water column. Try to get good flow through your aquascaping... Believe me I had issues with HA and Cyano, but once I got the good flow, it is now a thing of the past.

Rick