Tips to get Coraline Alage growth?

Aquaman101 · 07/03/2010, 07:35 PM

I was wondering what would be a good way to encourge coraline algae growth?

I have a 55 gallon setup with lots of live rock. I purchased this system and it was in bad shape. I've done a lot to clean it up.

I'm not seeing coraline grow though. I bought some Astera and Turbo snails that have it on their shells and it stays nice and purple but I'm not seeing evidence of it anywhere else in the system.

I have 130 Watts worth of 50/50 PC bulbs and run them on a 7 hour schedule.

Current Levels:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
Calcim - 400
Phospate - .5
PH - 8.4

Any thing I can does or improve? I don't have any GFO at the moment, but plan on adding a bag of Phosguard or the like to bring the P04 down.

I do 10% weekly water changes with premixed RO/DI salt water from my LFS.

Thanks!

fishox · 07/03/2010, 07:40 PM

I have found that maintaining the Magnesium level is the key to getting coraline to grow. Try ordering the Ca/Alk/Mg kit from bulk reef supply. You'll also want to get a test kit for Mg if you are going to dose it.

Mattik · 07/03/2010, 09:42 PM

+1 for Mg.....Ca and Alk should be maintained as well.

tiredreefer · 07/03/2010, 09:44 PM

+1 as well

96b.boy · 07/03/2010, 09:51 PM

time

roush08 · 07/03/2010, 10:03 PM

^^^^ what he said.

chrishet · 07/03/2010, 10:19 PM

I found that maintaining Ca and Mg levels are critical but also keeping down growth of all other algae - Astrea Snails were key in my latest setup...get a bunch of these and dose and you will be amazed.

jbird69 · 07/03/2010, 11:09 PM

I just returned from Maui and did a ton of snorkling and free diving. I inadvertantly turned over a big rock while pulling myself along. The underside of the rock was solid pink with coraline. I overturned a few more during the trip to see the same. There was no evidence of coraline algae in lit areas.

I say that to say this... light is the LEAST componant in coraline growth. This is also evident in the cakes of coraline in my sump. If you have low to moderate lighting and are not getting coraline, your perameters arent in check.

AquaReeferMan · 07/03/2010, 11:45 PM

Keep Ca, Alk and Mag in check and it will grow regardless.

mullinsd2 · 07/04/2010, 02:13 AM

weekly water changes and dosing two part on my 28 gallon!

gregmoeck · 07/04/2010, 07:23 AM

use kalkwasser in your RO water for daily top off. Make sure PH is ok and light.

sahin · 07/04/2010, 10:45 AM

I have found that with phosphates being as high as 0.5ppm corraline algae growth is largely inhibited. Once i started to use GFO coralline algae took off.

Ian · 07/04/2010, 01:59 PM

strontium helps with coralline growth IME....

capecoral · 07/04/2010, 09:58 PM

Purple is good!!

Mikilios · 07/04/2010, 10:19 PM

Ive also seen stuff online of people who take rubble rock with coraline algae on it and scrape it into a bowl of your tank water, turn off the powerheads for a short period, and dump the sediment like pieces back into the system to promote spreading through out. Dosing of above mentioned is also good from all my information gathering.

RokleM · 07/05/2010, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbird69

I just returned from Maui and did a ton of snorkling and free diving. I inadvertantly turned over a big rock while pulling myself along. The underside of the rock was solid pink with coraline. I overturned a few more during the trip to see the same. There was no evidence of coraline algae in lit areas.

I say that to say this... light is the LEAST componant in coraline growth. This is also evident in the cakes of coraline in my sump. If you have low to moderate lighting and are not getting coraline, your perameters arent in check.

I agree with this point. Keep your calc/mag up, and give it a LITTLE light and it will grow well. The thickest coralline I had on my system was 1/8 or so thick in my 100g sump back years ago. The entire 100g was lit by 2 horrible sunlight color generic T5 bulbs with bad reflectors. It grew like mad. In short in my opinion, blast a tank with MH and you'll likely actually see less coralline growth than with some lower lighting options (especially when trying to get it started).

firereef · 07/05/2010, 10:13 AM

Stability..... Then patience

Arnold40 · 07/05/2010, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by firereef

Stability..... Then patience

then frustration because you have too much!

necessary evil · 07/05/2010, 10:19 AM

get some one to send you scrappings from their glass it will go a long way in helping actively seed the proscess

firereef · 07/05/2010, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arnold40

then frustration because you have too much!

Lol. So true.

phenom5 · 07/05/2010, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by firereef

Stability..... Then patience

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arnold40

then frustration because you have too much!

Yup. Keep your Ca/ Alk/ Mg good, and give it time. You'll be cursing the coraline algae as you are scraping your glass in no time...

RokleM · 07/05/2010, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by necessary evil

get some one to send you scrappings from their glass it will go a long way in helping actively seed the proscess

That is true as well. If you want coralline to grow in other places, scraping it off all glass is a good way to start the spread. To start it in my mostly dry rock tank, I scraped a bunch off the walls of my old system, crushed it up, and threw it into the tank.

boodlefish · 07/05/2010, 01:29 PM

why do you want to grow more coralline algae?

i am constantly fighting to keep my tank as free from coralline as possible.

it does seem to grow faster on acrylic or plastic IME-- powerheads, overflows, return lines, fragracks, etc...

Aquaman101 · 07/05/2010, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boodlefish

why do you want to grow more coralline algae?

i am constantly fighting to keep my tank as free from coralline as possible.

it does seem to grow faster on acrylic or plastic IME-- powerheads, overflows, return lines, fragracks, etc...

I suppose I need to be more patient. This was an existing system that I purchased online. When I went to pick it up, it was covered in cyano.

I replaced the sandbed, but kept the rocks. I've only had it set back up for 4 weeks. I get a bit of diatoms in one corner, but I think that is from low flow there.

After the sand bed replacement I had a full diatom bloom, then some cyano and now green algae has covered my live rock.

Just tired of the green. I added some Astera snails and Turbo snails that had coraline on their shells, but it hasn't spread to my LR or glass yet.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that with weekly water changed the green algae will subside and coraline will start to fill in.

I have 130 watts of 50/50 PC bulbs running at the moment. The guy I bought them from said they were about 6 months old.

Time to change the lights maybe?

Thanks!

boodlefish · 07/05/2010, 09:58 PM

to help with your algae battle try an extended period of lights out-- 48 to 36 hours and manually remove all algae you can during that period + run a filter soc to catch dieing algae. i would then recommend running new activated carbon and GFO. id look at Bulk Reef Supply for CUC and GFO. you will be surprised at how much the lights out will do to combat algae.

and if that doesn't work look for a very useful product called AlgaeFix (marine) if you are cautious that's good. do a search here about it there are some threads on it. i read for like 3 days straight before i tried it. i didn't want to have any ill effects on my sps. but it helped to clear up the small patches of GHA i was fighting off.

coralline will soon plague you too

07/03/2010, 07:35 PM	#1
Aquaman101 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 420	Tips to get Coraline Alage growth? I was wondering what would be a good way to encourge coraline algae growth? I have a 55 gallon setup with lots of live rock. I purchased this system and it was in bad shape. I've done a lot to clean it up. I'm not seeing coraline grow though. I bought some Astera and Turbo snails that have it on their shells and it stays nice and purple but I'm not seeing evidence of it anywhere else in the system. I have 130 Watts worth of 50/50 PC bulbs and run them on a 7 hour schedule. Current Levels: Ammonia - 0 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 0 Calcim - 400 Phospate - .5 PH - 8.4 Any thing I can does or improve? I don't have any GFO at the moment, but plan on adding a bag of Phosguard or the like to bring the P04 down. I do 10% weekly water changes with premixed RO/DI salt water from my LFS. Thanks! Last edited by Aquaman101; 07/03/2010 at 08:10 PM.

07/03/2010, 10:19 PM	#7
chrishet Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Greensboro, GA Posts: 945	I found that maintaining Ca and Mg levels are critical but also keeping down growth of all other algae - Astrea Snails were key in my latest setup...get a bunch of these and dose and you will be amazed. __________________ Regards, Chris * Imaging the Cosmos, Astrophotography by Chris Hetlage * Current Tank Info: 70 Gal Shallow-Rimless Custom Build In-progress, Apex Controller, Canon 5D

07/03/2010, 11:09 PM	#8
jbird69 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: The beautiful State of Jefferson Posts: 2,751	I just returned from Maui and did a ton of snorkling and free diving. I inadvertantly turned over a big rock while pulling myself along. The underside of the rock was solid pink with coraline. I overturned a few more during the trip to see the same. There was no evidence of coraline algae in lit areas. I say that to say this... light is the LEAST componant in coraline growth. This is also evident in the cakes of coraline in my sump. If you have low to moderate lighting and are not getting coraline, your perameters arent in check. __________________ Broke Back Mountain is not a movie, its the pile of dead ninjas in Chuck Norris' back yard

07/03/2010, 11:45 PM	#9
AquaReeferMan Got Reef? Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Under the Sea, Pa Posts: 4,593	Keep Ca, Alk and Mag in check and it will grow regardless. __________________ Couple SPS/Zoanthid tanks and a couple of FW planted tanks. Current Tank Info: 5 pieces of glass with some silicone and plastic frames holding them together

07/04/2010, 10:19 PM	#15
Mikilios Registered Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Seattle Posts: 127	Ive also seen stuff online of people who take rubble rock with coraline algae on it and scrape it into a bowl of your tank water, turn off the powerheads for a short period, and dump the sediment like pieces back into the system to promote spreading through out. Dosing of above mentioned is also good from all my information gathering. __________________ 50 gallon w/20 gallon sump under construction ~Mikilios~ Current Tank Info: 50 g breeder/20 g sump+refugium Bubble Magus NAC6, 45lbs live rock, 1-1.5" sand bed

07/03/2010, 07:40 PM	#2
fishox Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Pittsburgh PA Posts: 453	I have found that maintaining the Magnesium level is the key to getting coraline to grow. Try ordering the Ca/Alk/Mg kit from bulk reef supply. You'll also want to get a test kit for Mg if you are going to dose it.

07/03/2010, 09:42 PM	#3
Mattik Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 281	+1 for Mg.....Ca and Alk should be maintained as well.

07/03/2010, 09:44 PM	#4
tiredreefer Registered Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Rapid City, SD Posts: 59	+1 as well

07/03/2010, 09:51 PM	#5
96b.boy Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: sunny fl Posts: 87	time

07/03/2010, 10:03 PM	#6
roush08 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 10	^^^^ what he said.

07/04/2010, 02:13 AM	#10
mullinsd2 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 753	weekly water changes and dosing two part on my 28 gallon!

07/04/2010, 07:23 AM	#11
gregmoeck Moved On Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Louisville,KY Posts: 709	use kalkwasser in your RO water for daily top off. Make sure PH is ok and light.

07/04/2010, 10:45 AM	#12
sahin Ultimate Reefer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 8,540	I have found that with phosphates being as high as 0.5ppm corraline algae growth is largely inhibited. Once i started to use GFO coralline algae took off.

07/04/2010, 01:59 PM	#13
Ian I <3 Corals! Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Santa Barbara, Ca Posts: 4,555	strontium helps with coralline growth IME....

07/04/2010, 09:58 PM	#14
capecoral Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: cape coral, fl Posts: 396	Purple is good!!

07/05/2010, 10:13 AM	#17
firereef Moved On Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Long Beach Ca. Posts: 4,641	Stability..... Then patience

07/05/2010, 10:19 AM	#19
necessary evil Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 60	get some one to send you scrappings from their glass it will go a long way in helping actively seed the proscess

07/05/2010, 01:29 PM	#23
boodlefish Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Seal Beach Posts: 971	why do you want to grow more coralline algae? i am constantly fighting to keep my tank as free from coralline as possible. it does seem to grow faster on acrylic or plastic IME-- powerheads, overflows, return lines, fragracks, etc... __________________ Tucker SCRK Member Current Tank Info: 100 Gal Rimless and Shallow, T5 8x PM, BK 200 mini, 2x Mp40w, BSR 2 part, Aquatronica controlled and dosed

07/05/2010, 09:58 PM	#25
boodlefish Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Seal Beach Posts: 971	to help with your algae battle try an extended period of lights out-- 48 to 36 hours and manually remove all algae you can during that period + run a filter soc to catch dieing algae. i would then recommend running new activated carbon and GFO. id look at Bulk Reef Supply for CUC and GFO. you will be surprised at how much the lights out will do to combat algae. and if that doesn't work look for a very useful product called AlgaeFix (marine) if you are cautious that's good. do a search here about it there are some threads on it. i read for like 3 days straight before i tried it. i didn't want to have any ill effects on my sps. but it helped to clear up the small patches of GHA i was fighting off. coralline will soon plague you too __________________ Tucker SCRK Member Current Tank Info: 100 Gal Rimless and Shallow, T5 8x PM, BK 200 mini, 2x Mp40w, BSR 2 part, Aquatronica controlled and dosed

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