Wade Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 I'm in the process of getting my tank in shape for some softies. I purchased some red gracilaria from Reef Cleaners and added them to my tank a couple of weeks ago to add some color and help with the nitrates. After two weeks they're turning brown and falling apart. The pH is 8.06, the alkalinity is 3.2, the nitrates are 10, the salinity is 1.020. It looks like I need to bring the salinity up a little bit, but would that do it? Any suggestions on what I need to check? Thanks, Wade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 whats the bioload in the system? Maccro algae needs food, commonly from bioload. phosphate levels? nitrates are low to substain a macro good in my opinion, but good for a salt tank with a bioload. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Definitely +1 to what Bio said, plus lighting. In my experience, that macro especially needs a lot of light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 The bioload may not be very high. Just four fish that I feed once daily. I'm also running a SWC cone skimmer. I run metal halide lights with no actinics. I'm hoping my lights are good enough to support softies. Maybe I've got my tank running good enough that I don't need the macro algae. I do have some red mangrove in my refugium that are just now rooting. They've not sprouted any leaves yet. Not sure of my phosphate levels, but I'm guessing low. I'll have to check those. Thanks for your input guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 BTW, do I need to have actinics in addition to the metal halides to support softies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Nope. Aesthetics only. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 Cool. Thanks all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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