Coralline Algae Turning White

[AZ_Reef]

1. Why are my coralline algae turning white? Picture 1-3

2. What are the brown stuff on the sand?

I bought this used tank on last week Saturday and have been doing 15% water change daily. Please help and let me know what to do. Thank you.!

 

[AZ_Reef]

Dkh- 8.1-8.4
Cal - 500
Mag - 1600

I know cal and mag are high. What should I do to bring it down? I used Red Sea coral pro salt (black bucket).

 

[T-J]

Questions:
Used tank? Did it come with livestock and water? Was it all transferred?
What’s your lighting?
Why are you doing 15% water changes daily?

 

[Brad Waddell Wrath's Reef]

What are the rest of your perimeters? The brown in normal and will go away. The first step to the uglies. As for the coraline, if there was no water for some time, it will dye off. Do not worry, it will come back when you add frags with coraline on it.

 

[AZ_Reef]

Questions:
Used tank? Did it come with livestock and water? Was it all transferred?
What’s your lighting?
Why are you doing 15% water changes daily?

Yes, used tank came with live rock, 70% water, corals and fish. 2 ai hydra 26 HD using Red Sea recommended setting. People thought I transferred too much water over and suggested that I do water changes for couple days.

 

[sfairtx]

I agree with the above. However, reef tanks are like turning a cruise ship, not a speed boat. You do want to bring your parameters down a bit (at least the ones you have mentioned) I would just caution you on doing too much too quick. The brown uglies on the carpet will go away and the coralline will come back with time and stability. Have fun!

 

[AZ_Reef]

What are the rest of your perimeters? The brown in normal and will go away. The first step to the uglies. As for the coraline, if there was no water for some time, it will dye off. Do not worry, it will come back when you add frags with coraline on it.

Temp - 78-79
Salt - 34.4
Ph - 8
Ammo - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - around .25ppm - hard to tell using api test kit

 

[IKD]

When you moved it, was the coralline exposed to air for long? It can die off quickly if left out of water for very long.

 

[AZ_Reef]

When you moved it, was the coralline exposed to air for long? It can die off quickly if left out of water for very long.

Yea, it was dry for 6- 8 hours. Is there anything I can do to help?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

At that point the coralline was dead... you might want to scrape the glass clean to get rid of it.

 

[DaneGer21]

And, your light settings are pretty high on some channels. How high are they mounted? (Which might make sense)

 

[AZ_Reef]

And, your light settings are pretty high on some channels. How high are they mounted? (Which might make sense)

9.5 inches

 

[sfairtx]

At that point the coralline was dead... you might want to scrape the glass clean to get rid of it.

I agree. You will still have coralline in your system however. To help it grow back a bit fast you could raise your pH a bit (closer to 8.3) over time.

 

[Molsman24]

I agree with all the threads above. Anytime that I take my powerheads out of the tank to clean the "innerds" they coraline turns white. The best thing to do is scrape off the old and make way for the new which will inevitably come back.

 

[IKD]

Agree, 6-8 hours in the air will kill it off. Keep your parameters as stable as you can and be patient. It will grow back in time.

 

[ARCreef]

Hi Q we specialize in coralline algae spores for labs, universities, private and public aquariums and seeding artificial coral reefs offshore so I thought we could chime in. We study hundreds of different non articulated coralline species. There are around 2,000. It depends much on the specific species on how long they can survive outside of water. Species in the genera Porolithon, Lithophyllum, and some species of Hydrolithon can stay out of the water for 6 hours and be ok. These are usually species adapted to intense lighting and have adapted over millions of years to be out of the water during low tides, species like in the genera of Sporolithon, and Mesophyllum will not be able to tolerate being out of the water for more then 20 mins and will get stressed and lose pigmentation after just 5-10 mins out of the water. With some exceptions such as Sporolithon phtchodes and some others that slough epithelial cells in sheets.
The short answer is any time you expose coralline algae to air you run the risk of killing it. For moving tanks we suggest to have a spray bottle or 2 of saltwater and have a buddy stay with the tank during the transfer to keep spraying the tank every 5 mins. Once the coralline is white it is dead, you can scrape the glass or not that won't make a difference on the regrowth. Coralline is VERY sensitive to abrupt changes in salinity also, more so then any other water parameter. You never want to make changes too quickly, adjusting only 0.001 ppt per day. Allowing your new salt mix to settle over night and then retesting it again before adding it to your tank will give the most accurate readings as to if you're truly matching the parameters to your aquarium. Coralline truly lives up to the saying, that only bad things happen quickly in the hobby. The coralline will grow again though, if you want to DM us your mailing address after your parameters stabilize, we'll ship you out a free bottle of our coralline algae spores to help get you back on track again. Hope this helps somewhat and all the best on your new tank

 

[AZ_Reef]

Hi Q we specialize in coralline algae spores for labs, universities, private and public aquariums and seeding artificial coral reefs offshore so I thought we could chime in. We study hundreds of different non articulated coralline species. There are around 2,000. It depends much on the specific species on how long they can survive outside of water. Species in the genera Porolithon, Lithophyllum, and some species of Hydrolithon can stay out of the water for 6 hours and be ok. These are usually species adapted to intense lighting and have adapted over millions of years to be out of the water during low tides, species like in the genera of Sporolithon, and Mesophyllum will not be able to tolerate being out of the water for more then 20 mins and will get stressed and lose pigmentation after just 5-10 mins out of the water. With some exceptions such as Sporolithon phtchodes and some others that slough epithelial cells in sheets.
The short answer is any time you expose coralline algae to air you run the risk of killing it. For moving tanks we suggest to have a spray bottle or 2 of saltwater and have a buddy stay with the tank during the transfer to keep spraying the tank every 5 mins. Once the coralline is white it is dead, you can scrape the glass or not that won't make a difference on the regrowth. Coralline is VERY sensitive to abrupt changes in salinity also, more so then any other water parameter. You never want to make changes too quickly, adjusting only 0.001 ppt per day. Allowing your new salt mix to settle over night and then retesting it again before adding it to your tank will give the most accurate readings as to if you're truly matching the parameters to your aquarium. Coralline truly lives up to the saying, that only bad things happen quickly in the hobby. The coralline will grow again though, if you want to DM us your mailing address after your parameters stabilize, we'll ship you out a free bottle of our coralline algae spores to help get you back on track again. Hope this helps somewhat and all the best on your new tank

Thank you. My salinity level has been fluctuating between 34 and 35 ppt. Is it too much?

 

[AZ_Reef]

What are the rest of your perimeters? The brown in normal and will go away. The first step to the uglies. As for the coraline, if there was no water for some time, it will dye off. Do not worry, it will come back when you add frags with coraline on it.

Do I need to vacuum the brown stuff on the sand? Or will it go away on its own?

 

[sfairtx]

Do I need to vacuum the brown stuff on the sand? Or will it go away on its own?

It should go away on it own.

 

[AZ_Reef]

How long does usually take for the brown stuff on my sand to go away? It looks like it getting worst.