Bleached Coralline Algae?

[quaqa88]

I just recently upgraded the lighting system on my 10 gallon nano reef from a 36 watt power compact to a 108 watt power compact. My corals are doing great but one thing I noticed after a couple weeks of the new light is that all of the coralline algae on my rocks turned completely white. Any reason for this? (My prediction is actinic deficiency? There are 72 watts of 10k daylight, and only 36 watts of actinic blue). If I put replace the bulbs with more actinic, will my coralline come back to purple?

 

[bavass]

It should come back. I think that is normal when you add more lighting, I changed out my bulbs awhile back and some of mine started turning white, but its coming back now

 

[quaqa88]

Are you sure? Because I have had my new light fixture for 3 or 4 months now and I don't see any improvement. The white coralline algae makes my tank look so bleak.

 

[bavass]

thats longer than it took mine to come back, what are you calcium and magnesium levels?

 

[quaqa88]

Being somewhat of a beginner, I do not test for these yet. However once a week I dose the tank with a calcium supplement and a vitamin/amino acid supplement.

 

[thominil]

New lights could be it. Actinic lighting has little to no affect on coralline no matter the wattage. My guess is that there is a lack of calcium which is most likely the cause. Go grab a liquid test kit.

I would NOT dose anything unless you have the proper levels first so you know if you actually need to dose and how much. The more additives you stick in your tank make it just that much more unstable. Calcium additives/buffers are fine, and so are the elements if you know how much to add, but the PH buffers should NOT be messed with as they can/will make your tank unstable. A PH that is off by a couple of tenths is better than an unstable one which will have a much worse effect. Most of these should be buffered by your salt mix anyway, so if it is not, switch to a different salt brand. Just a little hint of caution on additives/buffers most of which is JMO.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

New lights could be it. Actinic lighting has little to no affect on coralline no matter the wattage. My guess is that there is a lack of calcium which is most likely the cause. Go grab a liquid test kit.

I would NOT dose anything unless you have the proper levels first so you know if you actually need to dose and how much. The more additives you stick in your tank make it just that much more unstable. Calcium additives/buffers are fine, and so are the elements if you know how much to add, but the PH buffers should NOT be messed with as they can/will make your tank unstable. A PH that is off by a couple of tenths is better than an unstable one which will have a much worse effect. Most of these should be buffered by your salt mix anyway, so if it is not, switch to a different salt brand. Just a little hint of caution on additives/buffers most of which is JMO.

It's JMO also! Well put!

Also agree that most likely your calcium/alkalinity levels are out of whack.

I have a feeling you're going to need this article:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

 

[thincat]

So what's the total age of your SW tank?

 

[bavass]

If you can't test it, don't add it. I would def pick up a calcium test kit and a magnesium test kit. That is the 2 major elements that help coraline algae

 

[CaptainAhab]

Might want to take a look at this also. I've never used it but I've seen many referred here on many different forums.

Reef Chemistry Calculator

 

[quaqa88]

Thanks for the all the replies! But I seriously think that it has to do with my lighting system because if you look close, at the back of all of my rocks where they are shadowed from the light, all of the coralline algae is a beautiful purple, but once the light directly hits the rock, it turns white. Something about my lights is causing this.

 

[thincat]

Try putting a few layers of screen between the light and the tank and see what happens.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

And test your calcium and alkalinity, just to humor the rest of us!