# Plants on live rock shriveling up. Why?



## carmine00700 (Apr 13, 2011)

why is the purple flower looking plant growing on my rock shriveling down to almost nothing...could it be my be my circulation pump? I have 2 Koralia pumps, 550 gal hr each going...could it be that? dont wanna hurt plants..do the plants shrivel down when i shut my T-5 lighting off?


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

depends on what you mean by shrivel. Do they come back up when the light is on? if so, that's normal. where are they located? how much of the light is falling on them i.e. is it direct, shadowed, indirect? How deep are they? 

Most of the coral you will have will collapse in if something goes over them, if the lights are off (sometimes), and sometimes, just to do it apparently. 

Do you have a pic of your tank and where the coral you speak of are located? that'll help.


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## carmine00700 (Apr 13, 2011)

heres some pics..i had the light on an hour and they got bigger...you can see the coral growing on the live rock...im just wondering if the circulating pumps pushing them a little would bother them...also im starting to grow some green hair around certain things...how should i place circulation pumps?


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

the pumps wont hurt them. think of how much movement is in the ocean. The green hair could be one of two things... green hair algae (somewhat bad) or coraline algea (good stuff). Check your nitrates, that will give you an indication if there will be a huge growth of algae. If you dont want it, do a water change and turn your lights off for a few days.

With a tank like that, you probably want two powerheads in each corner pointing toward the center and up a bit. Also get one in the center pointing forward and one more toward the surface for good oxygen exchange. Your tank needs a lot of flow to deliver nutrients and oxygen to all the coral you'll have as well as have a good flow for the bacteria to filter your water.


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## carmine00700 (Apr 13, 2011)

ok. thanks for your advice. gonna try it.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

That number of powerheads is assuming you dont have a sump. If you do, then you'll only need two positioned in there.. really the best thing to do is move them around a bit and look where you see good flow all over the tank with no dead spots and a good oxygen exchange from the surface. These are just suggestions and you'll have to figure out what works best in your tank.


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## Justonce94 (Apr 23, 2011)

The pumps are pretty sure not going to do much damage. I'm also pretty sure the answers above were helpful too. Also, don't be afriad to try different things. so yeah


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## Ben (Nov 6, 2010)

Personally, I think that you have a bit too much water flow. I would turn off one pump and see how things look after a day or so. Different corals require different lighting, current, water temps, etc. Study up on the corals you have. You can get a plethora of information from the internet, but at the same time make sure it's from a good source. If you are going to run 2 pumps, have them on opposite sides of the tank with the flows meeting in the middle. My post on your clownfish question would change knowing what I know now. Turn a pump off and see how your clown does then!


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## carmine00700 (Apr 13, 2011)

thanks alot...i shut one pump down a few hours ago and now the purple mushrooms bloomed out huge now.. i think there was to much water flow..im gonna try aiming the second one towards the middle in the back aother time to see how it goes but as of right now, the mushrooms and the clownfish look better.


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

Looking at your pictures it looks like you have an adjustable nosel on your return line for your pump. I would also use that to direct water flow instead of just pointing it out from the corner. this could be your added surface agitation or added circulation on the corals.


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## carmine00700 (Apr 13, 2011)

ok so...should i point the return nozzle across the rear on the top because im seeing some green hair algae building? and thats what i should do if i see build up right?


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