Different looks to different lr

I should start by introducing myself. I am Vicki. I have a 45 gl tank with Metal Halide and atinic? lights. They are supposed to be high enough intencity for any coral I want to grow. I am presently wondering why a rock I got at one store has changed from mostly gray to mostly whitish green and kind of chalky looking, while my other rocks from a different store have the rosey coraline and a little green algie that was there when I bought it. There is also a round grapelike growth on one of the nice rocks. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I did put some calcium powder in the penguin filter I have on the back of the tank rather than right into to tank and I am wondering if that could have fallen down to this rock in question that is right below the Penguin outlet lip. It doesn't make sense that one rock is odd while the others are doing great.

 

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Hello Vicki,

I think you are on to it. It probably it getting the brunt of the calcium there. Are you using Kalk? If so, it's best to drip it in the tank with a float or I.V. rather than dump it. It can greatly affect your pH if added rapidly and if you are using the penquin as a biological filter, it could adversely affect it too.

Hope that helps,

Thanks for joining 3reef! [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

 

with it being chalky lookin may be the start of corraline. it has that color when dieing or starting to grow. also if lr is gotten at different places that will increase your diversity in the tank

 

I am using a "Kent" granule of calcium and I took the bio-wheel out of the penguin filter. My other filters are a magnum 250 H.O.T. and two powerheads with spongue filters attached. It says on the jar to put an 1/8th teaspoon every day so I try to sprinkle a little in a couple times a day. The guy who sold it to me said he puts it right in the tank and I could too. My ph is clear down to 7.8 and I am using ph-up to get it back up. Could the calcium be making my ph stay down? Is there something better to do to get the ph back up? Vicki

 

with your ph dropping have u checked your alkalinity thats probably low also. to maintain a good ph u need a good alk it should be in the range of 9-12 dkh. try that out