I have Red Sea Max E260 (69 gal) and it has LED lights that you can set the different colors. I want to promote good coralline algae and someone told me I needed to cut down on my UV and have it high in all of the other blues. Any thoughts or recommendations? I think my water parameters are OK (salinity 1.024, Alk 9.0, Mg 1250, Ca 380), I just want to make sure the lighting is good. Thanks.
Light settings for good coralline growth
- Thread starter LarryZ
- Start date
top shelf
New member
I wouldn't worry to much about coralline, eventually it will grow on everything and you'll be constantly scraping and cleaning it off of things. Lighting looks alright but I would focus more on your 3 key parameters. Stability is the most important but depending what your no3 and po4 are at alk looks fine, bump mag up to 1300-1350, and calcium 420-440.
biecacka
Active member
Larry, keep those numbers stable my friend and it will grow. Like crazy. Then you will have to clean it nonstop off your glass 
True story-I struggle to keep my mag up because my coralline grows so fast and thick. I have read it is a mag drinker. If I don't stay up on cleaning the panes on my tank it will creep up 5-6 inches and so thick I can't see through the acrylic.
However, I am not complaining. Just saying when it comes be prepared :lol:
Corey
True story-I struggle to keep my mag up because my coralline grows so fast and thick. I have read it is a mag drinker. If I don't stay up on cleaning the panes on my tank it will creep up 5-6 inches and so thick I can't see through the acrylic.
However, I am not complaining. Just saying when it comes be prepared :lol:
Corey
AlSimmons
New member
Like mentioned above keeping your parameters within reason is key, but FWIW I had some of the best Coralline growth in one of my older tanks with a 40 watt normal output fluorescent bulb. (60 gallon breeder) This was all I was using for the first 6 months or so. I was moving the tank from one room to the other, experimenting with different size sumps and skimmers etc. Once everything fell into place though it was all gravy. 
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jlmawp
New member
Just to add to what has already been said, there are lots of different types of coralline, all with varying light tolerances. I have kinds that refuse to grow in direct light, and others that flourish in it. I would set your lights to how they would do best for your corals and your own preferences, and let the coralline work it out for itself.
sde1500
Active member
All that is, is a calcium supplement, along with some trace elements that coraline uses. Nothing more. It does no more or less to grow coraline algae than any calcium supplement or good reef salt.
Thank you, however my question was not related to the purpose of the product, that is clearly stated on the bottle, I was hoping to understand if there are any big fans of the product? Maybe people who have had Coraline growth rates remain simaler on a tank with the product, and a tank without the product?
mcgyvr
New member
And here one of my goals (due to experience) is to NOT get coralline algae..
I happily employ an urchin in my tank to go after it and keep it at bay and don't let my levels get too elevated....
Newbies always want it.. Then you spent hours and tons of elbow grease scrapping it off constantly and all of a sudden you hate the stuff..
I happily employ an urchin in my tank to go after it and keep it at bay and don't let my levels get too elevated....
Newbies always want it.. Then you spent hours and tons of elbow grease scrapping it off constantly and all of a sudden you hate the stuff..
What methods are required to not get it macgyvr?
mcgyvr
New member
Well.. so far see sentence 2 of my last post...
Thats been working for me.. That urchin is "doin' work"
I threw in some coralline covered barnacles about the size of my fist a few months back and my wife got ****ed because you could hear him chomping away at it from 20 feet away..
He devoured the barnacles and nothing was left.. Super strong teeth on those suckers..
He keeps all of my exposed rock work clean and most of the glass..
I was sold a bottle of ReefFlowers Coralline Algae booster (similar product) by my LFS a few months ago and was told that "it contains spores of Coralline".
It doesn't. All it did was mess with my major and trace elements, which an ICP test revealed. If you're already dosing everything that your tank needs then I wouldn't bother, the "Coralline smoothie" makes much more sense - there's a few YouTube videos that show you how to do it. You just need a live rock as the seed.
JTL
New member
It is kind of double edged sword. If you can keep it on the rocks it looks nice but cleaning off the glass and PH's is a pain. We clean our tank very good once a week so that keeps it in check. I did not have it for a while now I do.
