Live rock

[Mike-portocarrero]

Hello guys I have two tanks and I bought a bunch of live rock for both of them the live wick was purple when I got it but now after 6 months or so the rocks have gotten a very dark color and don't seem to "alive" if I may say can u guys tell me what exactly I could out to help the rock thrive I was reading on calcium what calcium? I mean for the rock? These are liquids I am guessing? Which ones work good and are not supper expansive or what else could I Put for the rock to look better thanks a lot.

 

[Duddits]

What kind of lighting are you using? Yes there are additives as well you can and need to add such as trace elements, calcium, iodine and strontium. what are your current tank perimeters?

 

[Mike-portocarrero]

Hi there well my perimeters are fine I don't know about the rock I didn't know I need it a kit for the Rock as well so I don't know what those perimeters are also the lighting is not so great i have a t5 plus a regular light in it I am guessing the light helps as well? I mean my tanks are fish only so I wasn't told I need it great light just normal light thanks for replying

 

[Duddits]

No problem. Yes LR needs good lighting as well. You can do some pc lighting. It's inexpensive and easy to work with. LR needs to be treated like its a coral. It has a lot of valuable features for your tank as well as the fish. It doesn't necessarily need all the additives as coral do but if you want nice color and algae growth, I'd say at minimum do lighting and add calcium.

 

[Mike-portocarrero]

Awesome Thanks but what u mean PC light? I will add calcium thanks

 

[Duddits]

PC = power compacts. What size is you tank?

 

[Mike-portocarrero]

I have a 90 GL tank

 

[Readingexcalibur]

I have a 90 GL tank

How many tanks do you have?

 

[crister13]

You don't need special lighting for live rock at all. If nutrients are present, algae or cyano will grow. The bacteria don't need light. You don't treat live rock as a coral. You treat it as pretty much nothing. To the op, was the rock you bought painted? That could be why it was so purple.

 

[AquaRick]

Coraline algae will grow under the simplest of lights. 1 T5 bulb is more than plenty. I'm more concerned about the water quality. Coraline will receed in a tank if the water is poor quality. Please give specifics.

 

[mikestanked]

I think its just brown algae, water flow could be an issue, what size and how many powerheads do u have? Are you running a Skimmer? I had an issue like that a couple months ago and I used Microbacter7

 

[mikestanked]

The microbacter7 wasn't more than 15$