losing coraline...HELP!

[rubiconman]

My 55 gal. is now 2 months new and I seem to be losing a considerable amout of coraline that was already on the rock when I got it. Some of them have been stripped to have coverage. What could be the cause of this? Currently, I have green fuzzy mushroom, green star polyps, 3-emerald crabs, nassarius snails, hermits, lettuce nudibranch, 2-peppermint shrimp, fire shrimp (new), orange linkia star, coral beauty angel, royal gamma, 2-ocellaris clowns, and what I believe to be 2-unidentified snails. One of them has ears like a mouse and is solid black w/ a small flat black shell covering a portion of its back. The other seems to be the same type only it is colored more like a sea hare. They really only seem to come out at night. What could be the cause to my coraline loss? My calcium has had problems holding it's levels above 350 since my addition of a new piece of L/R I added. It has several colonys of some type of coral that has shown itself that have not been identified. I wish that I could take pictures of everything for identification, but I can't get my Canon C-50 to take good close shots. Any pointers would be beneficial. I am currently adding 2 capfuls of calcium and 2 capfuls of alkalinity twice per week w/ no other food source for the mushroom and stars. Also, I want to say that I would be lost without the info you all have given in regards to my past questions. Thank you again and I'm sure my livestock thanks you as well.

 

[Anonymous]

What could be the cause to my coraline loss?

Low ALK is a typical problem.

Too much light.

High Phosphate.

Low waterflow.

Cold water Coralline in a high temp tank.

Hot water Coralline in a cold tank.

Low Salinity.

Low Calcium.

 

[sailmike]

Are there white spots where the coraline used to be? My tank is showing the same thing and it's about the same age as yours. Could something be eating it? I have several quarter inch limpets in my tank. Could that do it?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[SnowManSnow]

I would guess that the white spots you are seeing is new coraline algae starting to grow. Mine always starts out white and over a few weeks turns pink.

As far as your additions keeping CA and ALK in the correct levels can be tricky business. In short the ALK determines how much CA, and other things, your water can support. I use a product called B-Ionic that works great for me. You just add = parts of additve 1 then additve 2. No guess work, and my CA lvls are steady and fine.

Just some things to think about.

B