Coraline algae

[Myteemouse]

What is the best way to KICK start more coraline algae growth
Calcium 480
nitrates <10
Nitritse 0
phos.. .2
dKh 10
PH 8.3
Ammonia 0
gravity 1.025
And there is coraline algae on some of the rock in the tank!!

 

[returnofsid]

Keep your Ca, Alk and Mg up. Keep your nitrates DOWN and be patient. Soon enough you'll be wondering why you ever wanted it, while you're shoulder deep in your tank scraping it with a razor blade so you can see your fish. If you have a fellow reefer nearby, you can ask them to net some of theirs when they scrape it off. Use this to seed your tank more.

Stay away from the supplements like Purple Up that are supposed to help get it started. They're bad news.

 

[Myteemouse]

Cool thanks!!

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Main thing I see with those numbers is the 0.2 phosphates. Phosphates will interfere with the uptake of calcium. You need to identify where that's coming from, and eliminate it. GFO (granulated ferric oxide) is a great phosphate remover, but unless you find the source, it'll just keep haunting you.

I'm going to guess that your magnesium levels are OK... but if those numbers are low, that will also interfere with calcium uptake.

 

[dnjan]

Magnesium has already been mentioned more than once, but I will mention it again. Since you didn't post magnesium results, I will assume you aren't testing for it.
Go out and buy a magnesium test kit now. There have been some very experienced reefers on this board who were not testing for magnesium, and did not notice it creeping downward. By the time they actually tested for it, it had gotten below 1100 ppm. It is very difficult to fix your water chemistry when it gets that far off.

so, get a test kit and check the magnesium every third or fourth time you test calcium, just to be sure.

 

[delemi]

IPSF http://www.ipsf.com/ also sells little coraline starter sheets - basically a ceramic tile totally encrusted with coraline. You can purchase these and drop them in to seed your population as well.

I've found that if your parameters are good, coraline will come in time - and before you know it you will have too much and will be breaking your arm scraping it off.

 

[Myteemouse]

Well I'm gonna go get a mag... test kit and let the stuff take its course!!!

 

[warforged]

Coraline is EVIL! I agree its a chore scratching that stuff off the glass.. I can't imagine those with acrylics having to scrape without scratching the plastic...gah!

Thanks for the info on Mag I had no clue...I just knew that Keep alk and calc stable and in good ranges...it'll grow..

I dose with C-Balance and when I started it a while back on my two tanks...coraline just poped up ..next thing I knew months later I have purple all over my rocks! yah! ...Then on my glass..ack!

 

[freetareef]

what is bad bout purple up? never heard that?

 

[returnofsid]

Over time, Purple Up use has been shown to build up high concentrations of trace metals that you don't want in your tank. I disagree that coralline is evil. One of the great benefits of coralline is that where it's growing, you're much less likely to get nuisance algaes.

 

[mmn_usn]

I kick start mine by keeping the mag, cal, and stront up and also by scraping and crushing up the coraline for the first little bit of growth...

 

[freetareef]

thanks, you learn somthing new every day...

 

[Seaguy]

I find that the rock under the more intense lighting seems to lose its coraline yet it grows quickly in areas where the light is less direct. This in a 100 gal tub that I am using to cure rock while waiting for my display tank to be delivered. Some of the rock is probably 10 inches directly below a 14K 250W MH. That rock loses its coraline pretty quickly but rocks that are not directly under the MH grow coraline quickly. I didn't know you could have too much light for optimal coraline growth but that appears to be the case in my experiece. Has anyone else run into that?

Water parameters are good as I have a few corals in the tub that are doing fine. My calcium level is maintained in the 350-380 range.

 

[mmn_usn]

Coralline growth that looks like monti cap.

 

[returnofsid]

Wow, that's cool!! I've heard of "plating coralline" but I've never seen it. Thanks for posting such great pictures.

 

[jadeguppy]

I've got some of that type too. It is cool in some locations, but a pain in others since it will stick out past zoas.

 

[busdriver]

A friend of mine (Mark Goodchild) has it plating like that too. He doesn't top up with additives, but has 100 kilos of coral sand...

 

[mattleycrue76]

Arrgh I too used to want more coraline. Now I curse it everytime I have to clean my tank.

 

[mmn_usn]

That is the biggest bunch that I have. It is on the side of the tank that the ballast is out on the MHs. I have a much smaller area on the other side of the tank, but it is kinda looking like a christmas tree... each plate grows on the next.

 

[boosted306]

I just changed tanks and am very excited about this tank getting encrusted in coralline. I am hoping for the sides and back to be completely covered. Well, maybe not the sides but at least the back.