the color of coraline algae

[LeslieS]

I am finally getting coraline algae on my rocks. I like some of the colors better than others. Is there any way to encourage certain colors to grow.

For example green caulerpa grows faster than red, but it needs more light.

Is there any trick to encourage certain colors of coraline more than others?

 

[marrone]

The best way to get different color of coraline it to acquire either scrapping or chips from other people tanks. The other way would be to get rocks or corals that have different color coraline on them. They'll then spread throught out your tank.

There really isn't anyway of getting one color to grow faster than another, actually most people are just happy they have coraline in their tanks. You could tried to put more or less light or have higher levels of Cal and Alk.

 

[tosiek]

seen an article somewhere or a forum post about coraline beeing very random on which grows more in which types of tanks.

can;t call the specifics but its about alot about water params and light cycles and stuff

sorry for not beeing too much help =0P

 

[drunktank]

talk to house, he can make u some home grown purple up!

 

[LeslieS]

These are the colors that have started growing, but on the other side of my tank, the pale purple color is taking over.

I have noticed that I have the most coraline growth of all colors where the light is the dimmest. I was just hoping there was a way to preserve the diversity

 

[ming]

Different color coraline actually have different requirements. For example, the purple coraline will grow faster then red, but the red can grow in darker environments then the purple

 

[firehazard]

i dont know if this helps...but a while back i had a algae bloom in my tank. i set up my fuge and left the lights in the main tank. after two weeks i turned on the lights one day and saw big difference in the growth of the coralline algae in my tank....also when the main tank had long hours of light i saw green coralline starting to spread fast.... if you learn anything helpful hint/ tips. please let me kno. thank you

 

[House of Laughter]

Purple Coralaine will do best under the deepest blue of lights - likely the darkest purple is the deepest in your tank - red takes a good amount of time to grow (the red almost looks fuzzy) and is the longest to start (from what I have seen.

I frequently seed my coralaine growth with crushing up some older coralaine (do a search for purple up) and let it out into the tank in the night. I find when I do that I get an explosion of C growth.

I recently acquired orange coarlaine - wicked colors but super aggressive and makes for a nice diversity of colors and texture.

If you need to see yours LMK, I can send you a bag/bottle priority mail and see what happens.

House

 

[reefman]

i've heard iodine also aids in c growth n color.

 

[LeslieS]

good to know that the little orange dots that I have are actually coralline - very cool. I only have two tiny spots though so I'll see what happens. I also have some that is almost black, but it is growing sooooooo sloooooowly.

I just got a pencil urchin so I am going to put him in the spots that have the colors that I like least and let him eat them

He has just tonight to do as much random damage as possible. I think he is actually heade for the orange and already halfway through the red - eeek!

Firehazard, I used to have some really pretty bluish green coraline, but the light purple took it over :-(

As far as purple up, when I first joined, I was going to get some, but everyone gave it a thumbs down. Is that the same stuff you are talking about Jim or is it something different?

Now that it is growing, it will be interesting to see how it all turns out....

 

[House of Laughter]

Leslie,

Purple up is pulverized coralaine.

House

 

[SuRFeR BoY]

i use purple up, its not at all that bad, sometimes you have to take some trial and era and not listen to some people (no offense guys) .. purple up is. also good to replenish iodine levels in your tank as well.. i also use kent ion and buffer part a and b. this stuff is also good. my corline algea has been doing nothing but increasing daily in my tank. im waiting for it to really explode, i can feel it coming soon. dark green grows the fastest but gets cover by the hott pink colored corline. i dont like the dark grren stuff but it gets covered pretty fast. house is right about purple and red. purple lovvvees blue lights and red will bloom in darkness!

****P.S. take this advise from someone that hhhhhaaateess too wait for anything! GIVE IT TIME!!!! YOU PROB DONT WANT TO HEAR THIS BUT GIVE IT A FEW MONTHS AND YOU WILL SEE A BIG DIFF!!!

 

[marrone]

Jim are you talking about PurpleUp? This product is just a waste of money, you get better results dosing 2-parts.

 

[LeslieS]

Just to stay on track, my post is not about how to get lots of coraline fast. It is to find out if anyone has cultivated specific colors of coraline.

The info about purple loving blue light and red blooming in darkness is good. I have noticed that my blue green is also in the very darkest places. Actually, most of my coraline is only growing in the shade. One color just seems to overtake another.

The info about dosing iodine is good too. I used to have less coraline but much more diversity. Could it be because I was more diligent with my water changes and so was replacing trace elements more often?

 

[Tonyscoots84]

just to share a story about my tank i had a huge coralline take over especially on my back glass and now its covered in green algae (phosphate issue).. i think the coralline stopped growing when my levels became wacky.. my rocks for some reason are still full of coralline but not on my back glass... i recently got my levels back to normal and i can see a big difference in coralline growth (im also dosing 2 part) especially on my cutting board... so i think a big factor comes into play with ur levels.. such as mag, cal, and alk... the better they are the faster it grows... if you want the diversity get the colors you want from someone elses tank to seed ur tank leslie.... good luck :biggrin:

 

[samster]

i thought purple up doesnt contain nothing but cal? and cal is what makes the Cline growth better. I believe i read on the purple up bottle it doesnt contain purple aglae so with out exsiting purple algae in tank u wouldn't get it? just a Cline accelerator supposly? hmmm

yeah i find the color grows nicer and faster where the light is shaded but the area does get a weak hit of light, but no color what so ever where theres no light and if to much light *top* area it gets green/brown nasty algae cause my photo period is like 10+ hours i think i should shorten the light cycle and i wouldn't get that brown haze but mabe its just cause its new tank/water. I found on my old 75 once the tank/water gets older the color grows even faster and the brown diatom things don't show up unless you change like 50% water or more? and yes its ro/di water

 

[lfsmarineguy]

DO NOT use purple up it is the devil...I swear to god I have seen so many people destroy tanks with that stuff. The key to coralline is patience and maintaining your proper levels. Most types grow better under lower light. calcium, Alk., and Iodine all play roles in growth. There are many different types of coralline such as red, purple, green, blue, and pink. Of those there are several different forms flat, mounding, or branching, etc. According to Anthony Calfo Calcium Gluconate proved to speed up coralline better than any other form but it also encouraged other algaes to grow very quickly as well. Coralline will grow quickly in most established tanks as long as proper levels are maintained. That purple up garbage can actually cause other elements to precipitate out of the water column such as calcium. It acts very much the same way steroids do in the human body. It introduces elements that effect the natural processes of your tank causing them to essentially shut down. It's a gimmick that plays on everyone's need for instant gratification and if there's one thing that is counter productive and potentially harmful to a reef tank it's doing things too quickly.