Coraline question

[Mrramsey]

So I am finally seeing some , what I will consider to be new coraline, growth. My tank is coming up on the 2 year mark soon but I expected that the coraline growth would have been more rapid.I have about 3 spots on the glass with the largest about the size of a quarter.

My back glass is painted black and the overflow is clear. The tank was seeded with live rock that had some coraline as well as being encrusted on some of my snails. The lights are LED and my water parameters have always been good and stable.

My powerheads are pretty well purple at this point as well. At this point I am wondering if it is lighting related??

 

[chimmike]

coralline requires calcium. What salt are you using?
What corals do you have?

Really, coralline to me is a PITA because it covers the glass. IF you have corals that use the calcium then you won't get as much coralline. If you use IO salt instead of reef salt or something, the calcium level is much lower.

 

[nuttyd]

Coraline appears to be a slow grower in the younger stages of a tank. One thing ive noticed that helps spread coraline is to crush up some whether on a rock or big patch on the glass. This will create a dust that you can use to seed the entire tank. Just place in a high flow area and it takes it everywhere. You will see little spots of purple popping up on everything.

 

[Mrramsey]

coralline requires calcium. What salt are you using?
What corals do you have?

Really, coralline to me is a PITA because it covers the glass. IF you have corals that use the calcium then you won't get as much coralline. If you use IO salt instead of reef salt or something, the calcium level is much lower.

I Use IO Reef Crystals and Calcium stays around 420ppm. Mostly softies... mushrooms, leathers, gorgonians, xenia, psp, gsp.

 

[pyithar]

coralline algae grow only in shaded areas in my tank. i think some coralline don't like intense led lights.

 

[Mrramsey]

coralline algae grow only in shaded areas in my tank. i think some coralline don't like intense led lights.

My LED's max at only 42% during the day.

 

[chimmike]

consider yourself lucky not to have to deal with scraping coralline off your glass nearly every day. It's a curse.

 

[davehead86]

Why is coraline so highly prized. Its just algae? Every other algae is scraped off and killed at will but not coraline?

 

[Mrramsey]

Why is coraline so highly prized. Its just algae? Every other algae is scraped off and killed at will but not coraline?

No one said it was prized.. The only place I really wanted it was to cover my c2c overflow. You will read comments all the time saying "it will be covered in a year..."

My Question was what really makes it grow. What conditions etc....

I do think that lighting has a lot to do with it. LED Vs MH vs t5 - My particular light is a Reefbreeder photon 48 LED that I run at 42% max. The configuration of the fixture I think also contributes to this. My fixture is made up of several LEDs spread out over the width of the fixture using 90 degree optics. I can see how certain spectrum's of light could be more concentrated in one particular area over another. Whereas with a radeon type fixture the LEDs are in a concentrated circle and then focused into the water thus having a more uniform spectrum. The spectrum's on a MH will be evenly distributed.


My only complaint is that I can still see my plumbing LOL.

 

[C.Eymann]

get some trochus snails and rely on them soley to clean the glass panel you want to cover in coralline, the pattern they leave behind seems to really help with coralline to gain a foot hold.

 

[PAXpress]

My tank has been up and running about 2 full months now. Seeded with live rock from two different LFS about 10% of it was live the rest was dry. I have a lot of coralline growing on the rocks already. None on the glass yet. I don't have any corals and I use Instant Ocean Salt. My lights are nothing fancy some Marineland Advanced LED that came with the tank. The coralline grows the best in the medium depth areas of my tank. The rocks that are practically touching the leds have some but not a lot and the rock closest to the sand has some but not a lot. Where I really see it is those areas right in the center. Looks like pink chicken pox all over my rocks. I would think if you're wondering why it won't grow as rapidly in your tank you should look at your parameters. Calcium to start with. Also I have heard that coralline doesn't like nitrate, which should be low anyways.
I actually love the way the coralline looks on the rocks but not a fan of it all over the glass.

 

[gmlee]

Funny....I have up to 50 ppm of nitrates and lots of corralline algae. Maybe close your ears a little.