Coraline Algae

[kissman]

I can't seem to get Coraline Algae to take off in my 55g! I have been trying to get it to grow for about a year now. I have some on some rocks in patches but thats it. I have added 10lbs of Garf Grunge. Every now and then a spot will pop up on a powerhead or on the glass. I have a shell thats covered in it every few days I take a knife and scrap it in front of a Hydor and then I place the shell on the Hydor. Any suggestions would be great. I have many soft corals and a few LPS corals growing and looking good. Lighting is a Current USA Nova Extreme Pro HOT5. The combo is 2 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Purple Plus, 2 ATI Aqua Blue, and 1 UVL Aqua Sun. I use Red Sea Coral Pro salt I do about a 5g water change on Sun and Thurs every week.

Nitrates 5ppm
Phosphates 0 (Salifert)
Calcium 500
Magnesium 1400
Alk 10dkh

 

[Inexplicable]

What is your pH? I had similar problems with one of my reefs. My problem was due to low pH with high CO2 content in the house due to large pets and lots of breathing. Once I started getting fresh air, my pH rose and my coralline algae took off. It appears that coralline algae doesn't like to grow in low pH environments.

 

[kissman]

Sorry should have posted that ph is 8.2 never seems to move every time I test which is not a lot its always 8.2. Something else I forgot to post was Salinity 1.025

 

[Raven1645]

I honestly don't know why it's not growing.
Maybe your lighting conditions aren't good?

Also you could ask a friend near if you can borrow some of their rocks and add it to your aquarium for a while.

 

[jaharr01]

what's ur Mg++ and Ca++ very important for coraline algae growth,also whats ur Total alkalinity.I bought a lot of cured rock that had coraline caked on it

 

[kissman]

Its posted, here it is again

Nitrates 5ppm
Phosphates 0 (Salifert)
Calcium 500
Magnesium 1400
Alk 10dkh

 

[jaharr01]

how much seed rock do you have with a lot of coraline on it?

 

[kissman]

I have about 5 pieces of rock through out the tank with atleast some coralline on it some is right in the direct flow of powerhead. I also took some of the small pebbles from the Garf Grunge that have pnk coralline on them and placed them on the rocks that don't have any coralline on them.

 

[kissman]

Here are a few pics of the coralline I have in my tank it has been the same for atleast a year. Please excude the little bit of grating under the last rock I am doing some aquascaping. I will also post a pic of my unfinished reaquascaping I have been working on and still need to finish covering the pvc.