How to kill coralline algae

Only downside of a urchin is the fact they are bulldozers. They can/will remove anything that's even remotely loose including new frags not fully attached, polyps that might get "dug up" during the rock/coralline eating process, everything in the sand is at risk of being hauled around and/or moved to other locations, etc.
 
Yeah, this seems like an easy fix in a softy tank. Less buffer, add a monti cap or digita and the coralline will slow if not stop growing entirely.
 
perfect example of too much of good thing can be bad lol. Id def add some hardy sps as the others say and manually remove as much as possible with a scraper. Never ever have i seen something like this.
 
Take out the right side rock,
cut out most of the zoo,
scrap away the coralline as much as possible.
Reglue back the zoo. End up with lots of flag.:lol:
P1010134.jpg

P1010131.jpg
 
Never seen this very interesting and quite an issue but I think you can solve by the above ideas good luck
 
Take one down pass it around .....

So do you think you will be able to save most of the polyps?

Are there any that were covered and now recovering?

Good luck again.
 
+1 for tux/ pincousin urchin- he keeps my CA in check without moving too much stuff around...

as far as the idea of adding something to limit excess cal/alk which ca needs what about a squamosa clam? i got one and it initially slowed all my sps & ca growth down by how fast/ well it sucks up alk/cal. if you got a small one it would fit the aesthetics of your tank and slow your ca growth. Green/orange monti digi also grow fast but i think a clam would be more fitting in your tank then some lower end sps.
 
I feel for you and can empathize. I have only had this problem once and can tell you, DO NOT GET A SEA URCHIN to fix it. Once they get in your tank it is a pain to get them out. They work but can create more havoc once the algae is gone.

Since there are different types of coralline algae it is hard to fix the problem immediately. You may either have to decease or increase the time on your lighting. I found that keeping my 100 gallon to a weekly water change of 10% one week and 15% fixed the cal nd phos levels and a reduction in my moon lighting time fixed the problem.

I still have the algae present but it is no longer forming plates that become a problem.
The last option would be to routinely trade with your local fish store. Highly covered rock is coveted to a fish store that sells live rock. If you have any Colt Corals place them on pieces of the live rock, give it a few weeks 4-5 to adhere and trade it in for more $.
 
Fungia said:
My coralline algae is covering all my live rock, plug n back wall. The tank is full of zoanthus without other type of corals. Now the coralline is start covering up some of my zoos. zoos are having hard time to grow. Please help! Any idea how to kill the coralline. I tried to drain out all the water for 2hours. Refill back the water. Didnt make any damage to them at all, as well as my zoos.

Tank size L24"xW12"xH12"
No3 5ppm
Alk 9dkh
Ca 400ppm
P04 0ppm
1.023
28c-29c
4xt5ho
no skimmer
refugiumSump 24x8x12
Click to expand...

Any luck? updates?
 
Why is is it the guys who have insane coraline growth don't really want it? I have a friend with a 30gal that's pretty neglected and running cheap fish orientated T8s, and coraline is so thick and grows so fast even nuisance alage gets grown over. Tank looks just like Fungias, except even more encrusted.

I'm also going to guess Fungia is running older bulbs, or ones that have a reddish spectrum. I agree with above the limiting CA and magnesium should slow the coraline down.

Carbon dosing probably wouldn't hurt because it will strip any remaining nitrate out of the water, and fast growing coraline loves nitrate. However, this will slow down zoa growth as well.
 
reefkeeper01 said:
I feel for you and can empathize. I have only had this problem once and can tell you, DO NOT GET A SEA URCHIN to fix it. Once they get in your tank it is a pain to get them out. They work but can create more havoc once the algae is gone.
Click to expand...

I disagree with this statement. My sea urchin, which I have had for almost 2 years now, could be taken from the tank at anytime. I fact, I have plucked him off of pumps when I needed to take the pumps out for cleaning. I think the type of urchin could be important, as my experiance is with a tuxedo urchin.

As for corraline algea. My tank used to grow it fairly good, but it was never a nuisance. However, my urchin has gotten rid of most of it. It is only left in the places he can't reach.
 
blasterman789 said:
Why is is it the guys who have insane coraline growth don't really want it? I have a friend with a 30gal that's pretty neglected and running cheap fish orientated T8s, and coraline is so thick and grows so fast even nuisance alage gets grown over. Tank looks just like Fungias, except even more encrusted.
Click to expand...

The best coralline growth I had was with two absolutely terrible 6-10kish T5 bulbs in a cheap fixture. It grew 1/8 - 3/16 inch thick coralline on my 100g poly. A lot of people have better luck with lower PAR, more white/yellow spectrum. So I can't say I'm surprised by your comment. While it grows in a SPS heavy tank under 400w, it's a slower process.
 
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