coralline algae: Why does everyone want it?

[spamreefnew]

i have 2 urchins(one long spine and one short) and they have cleaned almost all of the coraline off my rocks,,,,BUT not the glass it will return to the rocks when i place the urchins in the sump. you could try some urchins but i think its a loosing battle(at least for the glass where it matters)

 

[reiko1078]

if you dont want coraline maybe you should have a freshwater tank? just kidding i know when i have coraline on my power heads and the get a wash under fresh water all the PURP dies and turns white. good luck with your quest

 

[therealfatman]

If it is really any consolation a tank with really intense lighting usually has less coaraline algae on its live rock. Most coraline algae are also from deep waters where short wave length lighting is predominant. That is why in a lot of SPS tank (especially those with lower K bulbs) the coraline grows best on the walls of the tank and the undersides and shaded areas of the live rock. IMO

 

[m2434]

Well, urchins are probably the most effective, but it will grow back, so I don't think that there is anything you can do to prevent it from using ca/alk. I have found that it tends not to grow so well with very intense lighting.

I guess I've learned to coexist with coraline, the benefit to coraline is that if coraline is growing then nuisance algae isn't... Scraping the glass is annoying, but that's it, it really doesn't seem to have any noticeable impact on my ca or alk.

Notice the rocks in the front left were recently added dry base rocks and do not have coraline growing on them yet. These do have some nuisance algae, but none of the rocks, or glass with coraline have any noticeable nuisance algae. I suspect that coraline somehow manufactures it's own micro-environment that is at least somewhat aversive to some other algae.

 

[in2deep]

Yeah the corraline really outcompetes the nuisance algaes in my tank too. In fact when my calcium drifts lower the corraline drops off and nuisance algaes increase in a surprisingly short time and clues me in to having to keep up on the B-Ionic more regularly and check parameters more often.

 

[RicksReefs]

I grow plenty of coraline under my 1000 watt 14K hamiltons.

 

[m2434]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14133521#post14133521 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RicksReefs
I grow plenty of coraline under my 1000 watt 14K hamiltons.

I think there are certain species that grow well with intense lighting, however these seem to be more rare in the hobby (or at least in my tanks :lol: ). If your tank is old established enough, you will probably introduce these varieties at some point and they will inevitably take off. I've set up a number of tanks now, some with high and some with low light and coraline takes off faster and more ferociously under lower lighting, but I had plenty of coraline under MHs, it just took longer to "take over"

 

[john rochon]

this question doesn't really matter, your gonna fet corraline algea one way or another if your tank is doing good.
I like it, blends all that plastic and glass and looks more natural

 

[therealfatman]

Most of my bulbs are 6500K and my display tanks have 10000K with a small amount of actinic supplementation. I offer repeatedly to buy scrapings of any typical coraline that grow well under 6500 intense lighting and scrapings of all plating varieties that grow well in the top half of a tank under intense 10000 K lighting. People do not come forth with offers to sell such scrapings.

I run around 100 watts per square foot of surface area. The 6500K bulbs are over 12 inch deep water and the 10000 K display tanks bulbs are over 16 to 18 inches of water. The tanks are all purely SPS tanks so algae is not a problem, my nutrient levels are far from high so macro algae copetition is not an issue.

My SPS tanks are all doing very well, except for the shortage of coraline.

 

[elijaher]

One way to not have coraline algea is not having any rocks,limestone,cement. Just have your coral hanging on thing line of some sort. Just kiddin

 

[dtaylor123]

I don't like coralline algae either. I don't mind some on the LR, but any where else I don't like it. I have two urchins, one is a Tuxedo and the other a Pencil urchin. The Tuxedo grazes all day and night, the pencil just at night. The Tuxedo is gorgeous, it adds beauty and is functional. For the people that like the coralline, don't buys the urchins. My glass is all clean and my LR has some, the balance I have right now is nice and it suits my taste, but as we all know, ask me again in six months and it can all be different. Kids love urchins and I take the Tuxedo out and let them pet it, they are amazed as I am too.

They way I see it, it's easy to explain, all people are different and we all like what we like. It's a matter of what each person likes. To me this hobby is so different from reefer to reefer and this is no different than people liking or disliking colored sticks.

Hoped this helped the folks that don't care for coralline and to the folks that like it, well rock on!

Dan

 

[reefscape15]

Well your thread question was why does everyone want coraline? I like it because i enjoy the purples and pinks, and various growth forms that it can produce. I have a few small patches of the plating lavender and it really does look similar to what a very small monti cap would look like. Also it acts as a great natural "glue" for any encrusting corals. My echnophyllia spread rather quick, and i'm wondering if the coraline has anything to do with the rate that it is able to spread. I am a fan of it so i'm prob not helping pito's side of things