coralline algae

[coralcrazy]

deanos i def changed my post first off...when i reallized he didn't call me out...i am just saying it is working for me...and it is spreading on my rocks...cause rocks that had little specs of coraline...now have more....sorry about the previous post....

 

[coralcrazy]

all i ment to say is that it's working for me...it doesn't have the best reviews...people said that it is full of phosphates..which may be true...but it really works for me...

 

[coralcrazy]

alot of people do this...hth...
http://www.athiel.com/lib11/kalk.htm

 

[fernandokng]

I've actually used purple up back last year, and it works! Believe it or not, and I didn't have a reef, so I wasn't measuring/controlling calcium or kh.

 

[jhale]

so can u grow coralline without dosing anything??

the alk, calcium, and mg all need to be in balance.
so if you use a good salt mix, and have no coral sucking up the ca then no, you don't have to dose anything.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

the alk, calcium, and mg all need to be in balance.
so if you use a good salt mix, and have no coral (you forgot snails and crabs ....) sucking up the ca then no, you don't have to dose anything.

ditto

when he said "a good salt mix" that also implies high in calcium

I don't judge salt by the content of calcium because most of us is going to dose that anyway. I judge salt mix by how toxic they are to babies of the fish or shrimp survival rate.

 

[coralite]

Calcareous red algae, aka coralline algae, has the same basic physiological requirements as corals. It needs appropriate light, water quality and physical environment to grow and thrive.
Coralline can grow in an aquarium immediately provided that there are live, viable spores present and a decent environment to grow in. I have often made "coralline soup" for beginning reefers to help kickstart the coralline growth. This is best accomplished in a bare bottom tank where coralline scraped off the glass can be siphoned off the bottom of the tank.

 

[jhart]

THis Right from Garf.org,
Calcium is one of the most important things to add to your live rock growing tanks. Calcium levels in your live rock grow out tanks should be kept at about 400 mg/L at a specific gravity of 1.024. We have found that by using SeaChems Reef Builder and Reef Advantage in alternating doses in our make-up water we have had no trouble keeping both the calcium and alkalinity at the proper levels for rapid coralline growth. This simple method of treating our make-up water also keeps the strontium level in our grow out tanks high enough for the coralline algae to thrive.





This picture shows tank grown aragonite live rocks that are 8 weeks old. The Coraline algae has started to cover the aragonite. You must keep the Phosphate level in the live rock grow out tank very low. Protein skimming is important in the grow out tanks because it controls phosphate. Make-up water can be a source of phosphate. You may need a reverse osmosis or deionization system if your water source has phosphates. Feeding is the most common source of high phosphate levels. We use a phosphate removing filter in tanks that are not producing coralline algae fast enough.


Lighting the live rock grow out tank with 2 Triton 40 watt bulbs to each Blue Moon 40 watt bulb has produced the fastest growth of Coraline algae. We keep the lights on for 14 hours and the Coraline algae grows on every part of the rock that is exposed to the light. We have found many types of coralline algae that thrive in different types of light. Some colors of coralline grow best in the top section of the grow out tanks while others always grow best in the lowest part of the system. The best way to get good coralline algae growth on your tank raised live rock is to start the systems with a large number of different species of coralline algae.
so phosphate have nothing to do with algae Grow.. think it dose there guy.. if you do weekly water changes, low light and have live rock. low phosphates, and of course a good salt mix. ur growing purpline algae, some scraping ur jump starting it..but what work for one may not work for u

 

[coralite]

See my new signature. :splitspin

 

[Deanos]

See my new signature. :splitspin

:agree::lol2:

 

[wxl14]

U guys are funny.

 

[Chris5]

I remember back when I had my 65g House gave me some nice scapings and i thought it would kick start a whole tank full of coralline but the opposite happened, nothing ...

Fast forward to my nano now ... got some good rocks with coralline on them already, went through my cycle had some of the coralline die off, but after the cycle it got replaced with green coralline algae and now its turning back to purple and even slowly jumping to other rocks ....

My calcium levels are always the same, (maybe due to weekly water changes) and all i put in is trace elements to replenish from the AC ...

 

[Romeo]

lol

 

[tommy818]

the first sign of a healthy reef tank is when coralline starts thriving.

 

[basiab]

This is some thread.
Here's my 2 cents. Scrappings will not hurt and most probably will help since it will give your tank a jump on it. But it still requires a total environment that will support coraline growth.I have a 10 gallon with pc 65w. I can tell when my bulbs need replacing because the coraline starts thinning out on the glass. So lighting is a big factor. I do not add anything to my water. I just change 10% every week. I get lots of coraline on the glass but very little on the rocks.

 

[tommy818]

add a little b-ionic it wiil kick it in overdrive.

 

[noelskii]

:scratch: i don't even like coralline......

 

[tommy818]

what?

 

[probe dms]

well shoot. im just glad a thread i started got more than 1 page of replies! Now whos gunna scrape me off in manhattan!

 

[akarusso]

My tank is a 90 gallon and has been up for 5 months now.
As a amatuer I new nothing.
I just sat back for 3 months added no livestock and waited for the tank to cycle.
I was told I waited to long.
Now I have 5 fish an adding corals slowly. The coraline algae is all over, first n all palstic then glass and now all rocks. Did not use any dosing.
Alot of reading and patience is what everyone told me and so far its worked.
I also do 10 % water changes per week.