stupid coralline!

[bobbyblank]

Ok, i have had my tank up for around 3 months. I have around 50lbs of LR with tons of growth on them in the display but there isnt any sign or coralline growth in the display tank. No big deal, i know it will grow eventually seeded from the growth on the LR. But here is my confusion......

On 8/20, i installed my new DIY sump http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1189280. When i did, I placed a small tupperware container with some small crushed LR for attaching frags and ext. I just got into my fuge to grab some a piece when i noticed that the plastic container was LITTERED with coralline growth! what the #*$@!?


It had only been 3 weeks since i added the new sump, why is there growth in there and not my display?? The only light i have in there is a 65w full spectrum from HD which i run from 12am to 12pm. what makes it worse, is i put in a small glass container with some LR pieces in it 4 days ago and it has tons of growth on it to:eek2: No where else in the sump or display, just the fuge... Anyone have ideas? Maybe its the full spectrum flood light? Im not worried, just confused . I know it will grow in the display, im just a little sad that all the nice growth is down there :lol:

 

[edsimmons]

I'd move the small Tupperware container with some small crushed LR into the display tank a point a PH at it to blow the coralline "spores" around. Or use a stiff bristled brush and scrub some coralline encrusted rock in the display in hopes of dislodging some coralline flakes that may attach.

IME Light dose not play a big roll in the growth of coralline.

Good luck!
Ed

 

[bobbyblank]

thanks ed, i was kinda thinking the same. I put the small glass container back into the main where it was. I dont think it would grow better under the flood light, but its the only difference. I run the sump and tank lights on opposite times. 12 on sump then 12 on tank. btw, hooked up the reactor and my phos are back to 0...WOOHOO!

 

[matttaylor]

I've found that a powerhead aimed at a piece of coralline encrusted rock will help it to spread faster. However time makes a bigger impact, as does not cleaning the glass as much. Dirty glass grows more coralline than clean glass, but where is the fun in that?

 

[P.Kelly]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10709217#post10709217 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by edsimmons
IME Light dose not play a big roll in the growth of coralline.

I do not know what the scientific facts are here, but I have a skimmer in my sump, next to a fuge light and it has coraline on the inside on the side where it gets light, but not the other side.

 

[edsimmons]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10710108#post10710108 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by petes97
I do not know what the scientific facts are here, but I have a skimmer in my sump, next to a fuge light and it has coraline on the inside on the side where it gets light, but not the other side.

I have pieces of LR that sit on the sand and I've seen that the whole bottom covered w/ coralline.

So like no light and no flow but a thick patch of CA.

 

[dots]

The color of corraline will depend on your lighting

Alk and Ca and Mg levels must be high enough to produce it, one factor I noticed when mine was depressed recently was it did not grow Alk as fast.

Corraline tends to grow in higher flow areas.

It will grow, more than you will like very soon, like all things in this hobby you need to have patience.

try to get some scrapings from another tank to help "seed" yours

But having your alk and ca in the ranges of 10dkh, 450ppm, and 1300ppm will acheive good growing param levels.

 

[bobbyblank]

crazy. I just find it so odd that i can get growth on a glass container in just 4 days, but none on my display in 3 months :lol:

 

[Fragmented]

I find that coralline growth is much more prolific in my tank with PC lighting than in my MH lighted tank. In my MH tank the coralline seems to have taken much longer to become well established.

As stated above patience is the cornerstone of this hobby. Also keep in mind that every tank is different.

 

[matttaylor]

I should also add that like everything else in this hobby, everything is different for everyone. Also consider that you clean your glass everyday. Each time you clean it you're removing the coralline spores. Leave your glass dirty for a couple of days and see what happens.

 

[bayareaquarist]

Yo Bobby~!

As your luck would have it...I have some pieces of LR that you can have that are COMPLETELY covered in coraline algea~! Pm me

Ps PHASES MAYNE~! PHASES~!

 

[funman1]

Whats your Alk and CA?
That's all purple up is...

 

[bobbyblank]

pH - 8.1
SG - 1.025
Temp - 82F
NH3/4 - .03
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 0
PO4 - .1
Ca 450
Alk 9dkh
Fe - 0
I just dont see why its growing so rappidly in the fuge when there is just LR rubble and the display has 50lbs of good covered LR. I did find a few specs of growth in the display at closer inspection, but only in the scratches in the acrylic. But nothing compared to the fuge.

 

[robertloop]

I find that when the snails are doing thier job and keeping the LR clean, the corallin spreads faster.

 

[dots]

Trust me, when you have it all over your powerheads and glass, you won't feel so left out. I was thinking of running mine in a bucket of vinegar soon.

With a bunch of flow, and a barebottom tank, you can have this to look forward to.......I used to have sand blowing around, now I have flakes of coralline doing it. A tuxedo Urchin helps some....but still......trust me in good time it will be all over.......in fact I love the way the new tanks without any look!!!

(notice the powerhead in line with the thick patch, corallinenation maybe?)

Or I might just be rubbing it in a bit.......nah nee nah nah.........everyone look at the fishnerd without any algae.......

Just messing, I believe that there is an algae succession cycle that happens as the tank cycles and matures.......yours just hasn't reached that point and will get there and look all grungy soon enough.

Of course, the corraline is about the only thing that is the right color in my tank these days..........

 

[boviac]

I know when I had a FOWLR in my 29 with NO flourescents the LR appeared to maybe have what little coraline appear to decrease. Then I switched to two 55W PC 10K/Actinic bulbs and Coraline started growing nearly overnight. Plus in my PC lit 50 gal, whenever I have a coral receed or moved, or a rock surface that was buried in the sand suddenly become exposed... within a month I cannot tell that that part of the rock wasn't pink since it is now covered with coraline.

Further, a while back, I tried to make a section of my sump a fuge once and added a clip-on NO incandecent bulb 75W to light the cheato. I had coraline growing on the light side of the acrylic quite prolifically.

I'd have to agree PC lighting can help coraline grow.

In the natural reefs I hear it doesn't grow well in the shallows but you can find it like Ed said underneigth or on the unexposed side of the rocks.

 

[clown2be]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10712800#post10712800 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by funman1
Whats your Alk and CA?
That's all purple up is...

Thats it. 12-14 DKH with 475 cal.will do the trick.also what has been said above. all will help.

 

[burris]

Coralline needs light, but it is inhibited by high light. In a brightly lit tank you'll find that it grows more thickly in shady spots. The other thing about coralline is that it grows more readily on some surfaces than others. It likes to grow on newly deposited calcium carbonate and certain plastics more than it does on glass. You'll see it start growing on a plastic overflow, plumbing, and pumps in the display before it grows on the glass.

There you have it, lower light and plastic. That solves the mystery.

 

[burris]

Oh yeah, you say you haven't seen any sign of growth in the main tank. Look at the edges of the coralline spots on the rock. The growing edge of coralline is white. If you see white rings on the edges of the coralline spots you have growth.