Green Live Rock

[reefkeep1]

A short time ago I posted pics of my reef tank and my 200 lbs of green live rock. Some thought it was green coralline but I'm not sure that is the case. My Ca+2 has been low and I've been working on raising the Ca+2 levels. The tank is relatively new (~3 months), and even though I've been in the hobby for ~12 years, I'm still seeing new things.

I now have Sprung and Delbeek's Vol. 3 Reef Aquarium book. Of interest is the pic on page 201 that shows an SPS tank with growing corals but GREEN live rock with almost no coralline! I quote, "...if the aquarium is maintained with calcium and alkalinity supplementation just shy of the demand, the result is an aquarium with corals that grow rapidly, and greenish rocks with few crustose coralline algae." My hope is that my 210 g will eventually equilibrate. My coralline growth is absent (I have coralline but the growth is very slow or non-existent). I am now adding maximum Ca+2 and Mg+2 supplements on a daily basis to try and raise my calcium. I am running a Ca+2 reactor, but will not use buffer until I can raise my Ca+2. I will soon post new pics of the built-in tank and the finished aquarium room.


RK1

 

[cygnus]

Not ALL corraline is Purple/pink. I had green live rock for a while in my system and now it is half and half green and purple. It varies, If you want a text book tank, buy the book cut a picture out of a tank in the book and paste it to the glass, when dealing wiht a living system there are no absolutes or "perfect values" What you need to do is determine your indicator speices and focus on that and everyhting else in the tank should follow suite. Stop looking at your test results and look at HOW the life in your system is thriving. If your corals are growing and have great color But one of your water test are not in agreement with a Text book result are you going to adjust your water to match the text book or adjust your water to the needs and responses of what is living in your tank?

 

[reefkeep1]

Since you are interested in responding by imposing your own philosophy you should know I DO want a textbook tank. I want one b/c after providing such an investment in time, money and livestock, and after 3 tanks before this, I want to ensure the long term success of its inhabitants. If you choose to ignore the principle chemistry of your tank that is your (unfortunate) choice. My choice is to ensure the long term success of my tank by ensuring I have some control over what goes on inside the tank, and by ensuring that the test results are at least commensurate with those found in natural sea water. In case you missed the term "captive" reef, it implies it doesn't take care of itself!!!!! Being so cavalier will doom your success. Pay attention to the details, it may pay off in the long run.

P.S. Since when is coralline growth not an "indicator" of adequate calcium and alkalinity? Provide a pic of your tank, I would be interested in seeing a "natural" reef tank.

 

[dadstank]

"Since you are interested in responding by imposing your own philosophy you should know I DO want a textbook tank."

since you have obviously missed the whole point of what a "web forum" is... i have to agree with cygnus. i was chasing numbers for the first few months of my reef keeping life. i was forced to take on the responsiblity of taking care of a 14 year old reef tank. during MY text book stage i managed to kill three fish, two corals, and two leather peices i was later told my father had kept for years. This same fellow reef keeper was the same one who taught me to keep my damn hands out of it, and to let the inhabitants of my closed reef tell me what they need. while this is not to say i never test the water, however as long as the results are consistant with themselves, i am satisfied. as long as all my little friends open up and feed, i am satisfied, and as long as all my fish come and eat, i am satisfied.

here are two pictures for you. the first is three months after i took over the tank, and the second is taken last month...

for your viewing pleasure i present my "natural reef".
happy holidays...

 

[Len]

RK, have you tried kalkwasser? It does a great job at coralline growth for me, even though my Ca had always been a little low at about 300ppm. I personally dislike CaCl2 and Mg additions.

I think there's a place for observation and a place for empirical measurements. Neither is mutually exclusive and both are good tools for the hobbyists. That said, a key difference is the fomer requires experience in order to understand what you are observing. But having a long run at this hobby, I admittedly test less and observe more these days.

 

[Anonymous]

Like Len, kalkwasser additions have always been for me what gets good coraline growth.

Even when I have not been adding very much and my calcium is relatively low (300), I still get nice pink and purple coraline growth in the tanks that get kalk. I now add it to fish only tanks too, just for the lovely coraline.

 

[Chubosco]

I too had all green live rock in my tank. If I seen a rock at the lfs with purple coraline I'd buy it and put it in my tank. That coraline rock stayed the same and didn't spread. Now get this. I moved and drained the tank, moved everything including the live rock. The rock was only out of the water for an hour. Well, the next day all the green was totally gone. Tank never cycled, at least if it did it was minor because the fish lived. Now, 30 days later I have purple spots all over every rock and it is the beginning of the coraline. I have never added anything to the tank but food and I have never had to test anything. Just 10% water changes weekly. Because I don't test I can't prove anything but their may be more to the theory than what has been stated.

 

[reefkeep1]

Dadstank:

I don't mind a healthy debate that is factual and objective, but I found cygnus' response somewhat devoid of both of these qualities (sorry cygnus!). I don' t see any problem with monitoring the water chemistry since in the beginning you need to see how your tank is doing. I can also appreciate a more holistic approach but b/c my background is science I typically approach things more analytically. Perhaps this is something I need to work on.

We all have issues to contend with with our reef tanks. It may be water chemistry or algae or something else at one time or another. It is an obsession that I fully enjoy and would like to continually improve upon. Before I start loading my tank I'm going to take my time and watch how it changes over time. Right now I have live rock, 1 soft coral, snails, and crabs, but I've been preoccupied with improving the "systems" that run the tank. Just finished an auto top-off system that works well. More improvements to come.

I appreciate the pics. There will come a point when I won't fiddle with my tank as much as I do now. There is not much in the tank yet to fiddle with however.

RK












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[reefkeep1]

Chubosco:

I have had Fiji LR in the past that never turned green. My LR does not look healthy and perhaps there are diatoms/dinoflag, etc in the tank. When the tank was first set up the LR looked great, but I am now awaiting a new phase where the coralline begins to grow again. The green color, could you rub it off? Did it look like a grass stain? Mine does. I do have purple coralline on the rock where the green is not present.

RK

 

[Chubosco]

Sorry for such a late response Reefkeeper1. Such a busy season for me. No, it didn't look like grass stain. No way could you rub it off, at least when I moved it was quite stable. Really strange how it just virtually disappeared overnight. It surely had something to do with being exposed to the air or the cold temp (10 degrees that day but it was protected and in a car). I swear my New Years' resolution is to become a water chemist! Trouble with observation is just that, it's observation with no emperical relevance. I will test, I will test, I will test. Or is that, there's no place like home, there's no place like home? :?