Coralline growth rate

[blackcloudmedia]

How fast would you say it takes coralline algae to grow in optimal conditions. Meaning say a 1 inch square piece?

 

[mr_X]

my guess would be a few months. that's what it is taking me. i don't know about optimal conditions though.....i'm hoping that's what i have :wink:

 

[mr_X]

i started my tank on 9-1-06, and these items were introduced then:

 

[Anonymous]

I take care of a tank that grows coralline like gangbusters. In 2 weeks it grows to about the size of a dime, and that's on newly cleaned glass. I suspect you could get a 1 inch square in 4 weeks or so.

This is one side wall of the tank, and a bit of the rockwork. I cleaned this wall completely earlier this year, and I gave up on it after that. You can see it creeping around on to the front glass. That's 2 weeks of growth.

 

[blackcloudmedia]

Sweet could you get me the water and lighting parameters on that tank Matt?

 

[Anonymous]

A few years ago I tried an experiment. I cleaned the glass really well and then didn't touch the end panel for an entire month. I also knoched the Urchins off whenever I saw them on that panel.

This is 30 days later. The panel only gets indirect VHO light.

 

[Anonymous]

Sweet could you get me the water and lighting parameters on that tank Matt?

Lights are a 96W 10000K PC and a 96W actinic PC. I don't really test the water for anything besides temp and spec gravity. I drip a mixture of 1 tsp kalk per gallon DI water via a dosing pump. That's about it.

 

[Anonymous]

A few years ago I tried an experiment. I cleaned the glass really well and then didn't touch the end panel for an entire month. I also knoched the Urchins off whenever I saw them on that panel.

This is 30 days later. The panel only gets indirect VHO light.

Damn!

 

[mr_X]

do you think a refugium could slow down coralline growth?

 

[bleedingthought]

Mine's growing at about half the rate of guy's, which to me is still pretty fast. Indirect, but still brightly lit areas seem to grow the best. VHOs seem to grow them a lot better than MH too. Fuge didn't make any difference. I dose bionic every other day, if not every day.

If I don't use the magnet on my glass often (at least every other day) and stay on top of scraping the new coralline spores, I'm screwed after 4-5 weeks.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm getting a small amount of growth on rocks and in overflow box but nothing on my glass. Why is that?

 

[bleedingthought]

Crissy, what kind of lights do you have/how long are they on and how do you dose/how often for calcium?

 

[Anonymous]

In my experience coralline growth rate is fastest with high or very high waterflow, low to medium lighting, and stable Alkalinity levels.

I also believe that herbivorous Urchins help spread it around once there is a fair amount of coralline coverage.

 

[Anonymous]

I have 2 48" blue actinic VHO & 2 48" white actinic VHO. The lights are on from 7 am until 9 pm. I dose Aragamilk (calcium) every other day.

Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Anonymous]

Is Aragamilk maintaining your carbonate levels? Of all the products on the market I would rate it toward the bottom.

Personally, I use limewater spiked with vinegar. An occational dose of Calcium chloride or Baking soda to balance Calcium & ALK levels as needed.

I do this for coral growth, not for coralline growth. Coralline is a PITA as far as I'm concerned.

The plating Coralline is the only stuff I really like.

 

[Anonymous]

Where do I get limewater? What's the recipe that you use? So I'm using the worst chit hun?

Thanks for the info Guy!

I do have the plating type growing on the rock.

 

[Anonymous]

I use Mrs. wages pickling lime. Most LFS will carry Kalk powder. I have a home-made reactor so there's no real receipe for me.

To make limewater add 1 or 2 tablespoons of Calcium hydroxide (Kalk or Lime) to each gallon of topoff water.

Do not add it all at once. Limewater has a very high PH (12.0+) and when added to saltwater it reacts with CO2. This combination can increase PH really really fast. I suggest dripping the limewater over at least a 12 hour period. Nighttime works best because there's more available CO2 at night.

 

[bleedingthought]

I have 2 48" blue actinic VHO & 2 48" white actinic VHO. The lights are on from 7 am until 9 pm. I dose Aragamilk (calcium) every other day.

Am I doing something wrong?

Crissy, I have the same lighting setup except that I run mine for 8 hours. Not sure why you run them for 14 hours.

And two things you might also want to check out, on top of Guy's suggestion, are B-Ionic 2 part supplement by the gallon: http://www.marinedepot.com/md_searchsta ... uct=EV1115 or you can make your own two part supplement with this recipe: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

My 8-hour lighting period and the periodic dosing of b-ionic is working very well for my corals! Coralline is very abundant but I agree with Guy that it can be a pain. I like it but it's annoying on the glass since you have to scrape it off often. At the beginning of the year, I am going to make my own two part since I found Calcium Chloride at a local concrete mixing company.

Good luck!

 

[Anonymous]

I have 2 48" blue actinic VHO & 2 48" white actinic VHO. The lights are on from 7 am until 9 pm. I dose Aragamilk (calcium) every other day.

Am I doing something wrong?

Crissy, I have the same lighting setup except that I run mine for 8 hours. Not sure why you run them for 14 hours.

And two things you might also want to check out, on top of Guy's suggestion, are B-Ionic 2 part supplement by the gallon: http://www.marinedepot.com/md_searchsta ... uct=EV1115 or you can make your own two part supplement with this recipe: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php


My 8-hour lighting period and the periodic dosing of b-ionic is working very well for my corals! Coralline is very abundant but I agree with Guy that it can be a pain. I like it but it's annoying on the glass since you have to scrape it off often. At the beginning of the year, I am going to make my own two part since I found Calcium Chloride at a local concrete mixing company.

Good luck!

I need to set my timer back up. I leave at around 7:30am to go to work and when it's time for bed is when I end up turning my lights off. I will get that darn time back up and running tonight.

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[SnowManSnow]

After my new tank has been up for about 2 months or maybe 3...most of the rockwork is 80% covered in coraline (from a third to the top down). The thing that REALLY made a difference in my CA lvls was a product put out by Kent called TURBO CALCIUM. I only add a LITTTTTLLLLEE every week, but it seems to have really kicked in. Other than that little bit I do dose B-Ionic at least every other day if not every day.