is there a need to dose alk for propagation of coraline in FOWLR tank??

[sensei]

I only have experience with reef tanks were you dose alk, cal, etc.

I just started my 1st FOWLR 150g tank.
tank has around 100 pounds of rock but I need coraline to propagate.
if I do not dose, alk will continuesly go down, and I am not sure if coraline with do good in low alk environment.

thanks for your answers

 

[SaltyMember]

I have a 125 FOWLR that is 10 years old now. I started with a few pieces of established rock with coralline and the rest base rock. I did dose alk and calcium in the beginning and it did help speed the spread of coralline. Now, I hardly dose and just do water changes. I still have coralline coverage but not as heavy as it used to be.


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[humaguy]

why do you need coralline in a fowlr?

 

[Dmorty217]

why do you need coralline in a fowlr?

This my thought too but each their own

 

[sensei]

Maybe I have not understood the concept of a fowler.
I thought it was a fish only tank with live rock; and I thought coraline would make it look better. I am sorry for my ignorance. Lol
Can someone explain???

Thanks a lot

 

[Louis Z]

I think coralline looks nice. No harm in growing it . It's better to look at than white rock. Only thing is that you have to clean it off the glass .

 

[alanbetiger]

Aesthetics. If you like the look of coralline then dose accordingly. If not, you don’t “need” to.

 

[danielp]

I personally love coralline algae, few pics of my 100 gal FOWLR).

I started with completely dry rock
DSC_0106

Few months later:
DSC_0519

DSC_0514

Maybe 10-12 months later:
FullSizeRender

DSC_0834

Instant Ocean salt, no dosing, water changes every 6-8 weeks and old "good" power compacts (2x96watts 50/50 bulbs).

 

[sensei]

daniel,
that is a beautifull tank you got there!
what % WC do you do?
I am not dosing alk in my FOWLR, I will see if coraline grows in mine

I was thinking on doing around 12.5% every 15 days.
I have experience with reef tanks were I do 10% per week, do you think in a FOWLR you can easily get away with 1 WC per month?
if I could do just one 20% WC per month, that would be even easy for me.

has your WC routine worked well for you with respect to algae in dt?


Thanks

 

[danielp]

Hi,
Thank you, tank is 18 months old, I have been doing 15% WC every 6 to 8 weeks.
Good skimmer imo is important in fowlr, I also have brs reactor, after 6 months I stopped using GFO only GAC.
No algae problems since day 1, which is why I keep light CUC, few snails, most of them die because of lack of food source.
And finally probably most important advice I got from one and only SDguy, since I enjoy that tank only in the evening (I have two 3 year old twin boys with health problems, so I am busy during the day-home stay dad) I only have tank light 3-4 hours a day from 7pm till 11pm. Day light or room light is perfectly fine for fish, they see what they need to see But thanks to that brilliant advice I clean my tank acrylic panels once every 16 to 18 days, heck that tank makes me lazy
Feeding twice a day, tank is overstocked, no issues with water quality or algae, planning bigger and better etc.
Give it time and your coraline should start spreading.
But I also have to say my 50g reef has much less coraline with all alk and calc adds, LEDs may be a problem (just a guess though).
Good luck
ps-somebody told me coraline algae likes shorter periods of lightning, not those 9-10 hours days, in my case works perfectly. And no, I do not have any other proof for that, just a word from a friend who has been in the business for the last 20 years, maybe he is right...

 

[sensei]

danielp
that is a good advice, thanks!
I will reduce the light hours in my FOWLR.
why do you use GAC?

thanks again