collarine algae colors

[markandkristen]

was just curious i am doing sps now and am other the impression if i can get the coraline algae going crazy then i shouldnt have to worry about outher nuisance algaes as much.
im running two skimmers on my 150. no phosphates. i knwow people say they hate coraline algae after a while which i can understand. but i think its like when people say money makes you miserable.... hey at least let me try it ounce

 

[reefgrief]

Well..just a few months back I was such a noob that my lfs sold small bottles of Corralline Up for $35.. and I BOUGHT it.. (blush)

Whats more, I believe most of the supplements selling for 10 to 25 bucks for 8 to 12oz are not necessary.. ! I really wish the guys selling this, would have been more knowledgeable.. ( oops maybe they really are smart, they knew a sucker when they saw one, as I asked the noob questions ..)

I know... its a hobby... but chseesh.. I wish I had found forums like Reef Central earlier... I could have saved so much wasted effort, not to mention spent money more resourcefully on used equip.

Oh sorry, ranting about question dementia... ( a disease of noobs, who ask the most obvious questions on the need to know about everything basis)

Probably the best way to seed corraline algae is from cured live rock... (garf grunge might still be sold.. not sure, but I didnt know this was available until I happened to hit on it during a google search for corraline algae)

Anyone know if culturing diff colors is light dependant ? Or if any supply houses sell specific color morphs ? ( such questions are reaffirmation of my noob dementia, lol)

 

[Nickme23]

Ok, I have actually tried and been successful with this method so all I can say is try it and decide for yourself.

Harvest coralline from the glass of an established aquarium by scraping it with a straight razor blade and hold an airline tube under the blade siphoning the particles out into a gallon jug. After you've done this long enough to clear quite a bit of coralline from the glass. Take a paper towel and pour the water slowly through the paper towel filtering out the coralline particles and then pat the little pile of coralline dry. then you can dab little drops or squiggles of super glue over the dry rock you want to seed then sprinkle the dried coralline on the super glue spots.

(note: do not let the coralline stay dry for too long or else it'll start to die)

Put the rock into the water immediately and it'll cure a little cooler. The coralline will grow over the rock a lot sooner than otherwise.

Another method is to just put a powerhead over a coralline covered rock and put the rock you want to grow coralline in the path of the jet of water.


Coralline will grow best under twice as much Actinic as daylight. In fact I would suggest putting one Actinic bulb and one 50/50 bulb over a tank to grow the coralline.

Garf Grunge is great btw

 

[Nickme23]

Oh and yes colors are light dependent. Generally speaking the lighter colors will grow under higher light and the darker colors will grow under lower light. Coralline covered rocks "will" bleach if you move them from low light to high light but should recover after a few weeks. The best way is to acclimate them to higher light levels if you need to move them. Just like most corals