finally growing coralline algae

[flyin2jz]

well i had some bleaching on my sps and finally decided to screen the tank. I put 3 sheets on it and slowly took them off. IM down to one sheet now and i have started growing coralline well. I have never grown any in this tank with the 250w halides and a shallow tank. I believe it was too much light for it to grow. I also had this issue with my old tank which grew corals out the top of the tank but didnt grow a spec of coralline. So if you want more pinks and purples on your strongly lit halide tank just throw a couple screens over it and it will take off. just wanted to share because ive asked why i couldnt grow it for years and never got the answer that worked.

 

[sland]

Good to hear you found something that worked for you...sounds like a good method to me!

 

[Brian Chong]

i have coralline plating in my sump/refugium where theres lil light.
Coralline grows in pristine water. My first reef tank was filled with approx. 80% macroalgae and i had good coralline growth. took all of the plants out and they diminished. tried purple up and other calc additives with no avail. upgraded to a bigger tank with better skimmer and used esv 2 part with a dosing pump and i grow coralline up the yin yang in the display in less than 5 months.
turning your filters off for an hour after scraping it helps to spread it in your tank.

 

[flyin2jz]

I beg to differ with u on pristine water. Lol. My 7yr old has a 40 gallon fish fowlr tank and it has a penguin hang on filter on it and we haven't done a water change since it's been set up and it's covered with coralline pink and purple. We used dead rock and put one piece of good rock in it. I add a little calcium now and then but never tested it. We have a jenk pc light on it and the entire tank is covered with pink in less than 3 months. The low light is helping for sure not the pristine water. Lol

 

[Brian Chong]

Yes. many types of coralline prefer lower light but i also have coralline growing where there is a lot of light. clean water is one of the variables that helps coralline grow. if the water is too clean they can die off of course.

 

[Ostentum]

Every tank is different, I have a high flow barebottom sps dominate tank, 250w mh on a 20" deep tank and had a huge coralline algae bloom after about 4 months. I have no coralline in my sump, po4 and no3 undetectible. My old tank I didnt grow much coralline. Difference between the new and old......Dosing on Strontium and Potassium, even my corals grow like crazy now, Purple Monster has grown an inch in 1.5 months.