how bad is my rock? really?

[dorian965]

this is a pic of a large piece of live rock in my tank. i was wondering, if this is a good representation of a third of my rock, how bad of shape is my rock in. its a 55 with about 100 pounds rock. i have a yellow tang and about 50 - 60 crabs and 15 snails. they seem to just be keeping the "hair" at bay.

also , whats the red stuff. i know the purple is coralline that keeps trying to grow------------- calcium problems. nitrate and phos probs as well.

i just dont see that many pics of rock with any detail.sorry for the strange post.

 

[Brenden]

Looks fine. It all looks like coralline to me. It comes in more colors than purple.

 

[j_a_wickstrom]

When I first got my LR it was completely covered in hair algae. It looked like a Chia Pet! Yours isn't bad at all, I promise.

 

[ace1uno_00]

Thats a great piece of rock. The hair will get eaten up, trust me. And Brenden is right Coralline algae comes in many colors.
Anyother things wrong besides the hair and color?

 

[NewInTown]

looks ok to me

 

[dorian965]

yea, just nitrate and phos problems. im running phosgaurd and doing like 25% water changes a week but i cant find anywhere that sells di water. im using ro from walmart but i tested and it has trace amounts of pho4. so im changing water to get the nitrate down and adding pho4 every time.im going to purchase a ro/di filter but im saving.

i bought the tank used and it had been neglected. when i moved it i used about half the original water and it was pretty funked up.its slowly comming around. the rock had some nice coraline on it but now im having a hard time getting the calcium up and the green hair algae is out competing everything.

 

[Phyl]

Filter Direct sells an RO/DI unit for 100$ on ebay. You can't beat that price and not much in SW comes any cheaper. With all the salt you're buying you'll more than make up the price of the unit in no time. Otherwise find your local reef club. Maybe one of the club members will sell you water until you can get your own unit.

All the SW stores around here sell RO/DI water.

 

[b3noodles]

I think it looks great...Thats what mine looks like so I hope it is fine..LOL

 

[afilter]

Wish mine all looked that good.

As for getting the calc level up...are you checking alk? PWC with good salt and RO water is best way to maintain good levels, but if your system is using the elements at a high rate many swear by a product called B-ionic which doses alk and calc.

Do you have a water supply store in town? Might be a better source for RO until you can get your own unit. I have a RO unit on my x-mas wish list.

Good luck,

 

[dorian965]

thanks guys

 

[theatrus]

Looks decent to me. If that tank was in bad shape, it may take awhile for hair algae to get eaten up. You're doing a great job trying to fix the problem though!