coralline algae not growing

[jmowbray]

I'm still stumped to why I can't get it to grow. My tank is going on two years old now. These are my thoughts. The only thing I can think of is the lighting needs to be turned up higher. I came to this conclusion as its growing well on objects close to the surface (top side of powerheads, pipes for HOB skimmer, return shoot of HOB filter). What are your thoughts? I know it grows fast on these parts as I have scraped it off in hopes of seeding the rest of the tank and it heals the scratches in 2-3 weeks. Currently The rocks have a green tint to them with a tiny bit of red.

Thoughts?

 

[cloak]

What are your parameters? Crucial things like alkalinity, calcium & magnesium need to be within limits for coralline algae to grow well.
When my 60 gallon breeder was first set up, for the first 6 months or so all I used was a 40 watt normal output fluorescent bulb and the coralline algae grew really well. Increasing the intensity might not be the solution.

 

[shesacharmer]

The green tint is the beginnings of your coralline explosion. Seeding the tank is working. It will change color over time.

 

[jmowbray]

Ca-420
Alk- 150ppm
Mg-1300

 

[jmowbray]

The green tint is the beginnings of your coralline explosion. Seeding the tank is working. It will change color over time.

It's been this green for a year now. How long do it take?

 

[danhaun777]

We have had our 30g nano cube for almost a year and I would say we have about 40-45% coralline algae. I defiantly agree with cloak regarding that parameters. I was checking the levels almost every other day. (This is tedious but it really helps to make sure the levels are safe in the tank.) I made the mistake of ramping up my lights and all that ended up growing was red algae. As soon as a dialed the lights down the red algae cleared up. The only other advice I could give is to be patient and keeping do water changes on a regular basis and continue to monitor the levels in the tank. Good luck and hopefully you see purple soon.

 

[Wryknow]

Hard to say without knowing more about your system. Coraline algae seems to grow best for me in conditions similar to SPS - lots of light, good flow, low nutrients, lots of calcium and alkalinity in the water. Are you dosing 2-part or kalk? What's your current lighting? Do you have other algae issues?