Scraping Coraline Algae

[Chubby]

Might sound like a weird question but I really want to know.

The back glass of my tank is full of Coraline Algae, almost completely.

Are there any adverse reactions too all of sudden clearing all the coraline?
Is there a problem if pieces of coraline fall behind the rock work where is unreachable and just sits there?

The reason I ask is the last time my coraline was bad and I cleared it all, i had a huge drop in Alkalinity. Like from 11 to 5dkh.

Was it just a coincidence or was there some reaction becase of the removal of so much Calcium boring algae?

 

[Chubby]

Any thoughts my friends?

 

[bcallahan]

I'm speculating, but it would make sense that removing the coralline algae (scraping it off and causing some part of it to re-dissolve into the water) would cause the ppm of the calcium to go up in the tank, thus pushing the alkalinity down. Just like dumping a bunch of calcium supplement in the tank would.

 

[Palting]

Scraping off a large amount of coralline would be equivalent to a large amount of die-off, resulting in acid production and alk consumption. That's my guess, anyway. I don't see any harm in scraping off sections at a time, however, a week at a time. That's what I do.

 

[h2hiero]

Do not let it build up so fully if you can help it. Cut it down slowly maybe one razer blades worth every few days and then measure your readings.

 

[Chubby]

Thanks guys, going to start scraping it away bit by bit starting today. Thanks for the advice