MorseReef Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 Hello, I need a little advice on how to get coraline algae going in my tank. From what I know its a beneficial part of the ecosystem. My tank has been up for a while now and I still don't have it starting up yet. Is there something I can do or add to get it going? Or should I just leave things alone and not try too hard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
householdofpayne Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 I added snails that had them on the shells, then I scraped a little bit off to free float in the water volume when I put them in. I also noticed that an acentic t5 bulb really made it take off like crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorseReef Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 OK thank you.. I am in the process of adding some T5 bulbs to my setup. I purchased an aquaticlife hybrid to add the T5's. but I really don't want to hang the fixture off the wall with cords. I really like the look of the red sea light brackets. So at this point it sits in my garage waiting for me to come up with something. I will look for some snails next time I am at the LFS. Like today at lunch time. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrabbyCrabs Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 I had Coraline start going nuts when I switched to reef crystals and now that I switched back to salinity it's seems to have stopped. So salt brand can play a role. I never added anything with Coraline so it came as a hitch hiker. I've had white, purple, blue, bright red, bright pink, and bright lime green at one point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Tavan Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 I hate coraline algae - gets everywhere 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcallmenny Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 Get your lights and water conditions correct and it turns in to a plague. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H20cooled Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 I think it really comes down to a stable and consistent parameters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorseReef Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 So is it a bad thing? Or just more of a nuisance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcallmenny Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 It's annoying having to scrape it off the glass but I see it as more a sign of success. In my experience if corraline is growing than so is the coral. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 9 minutes ago, MorseReef said: So is it a bad thing? Or just more of a nuisance? The biggest advantage of coralline algae is that it prevents nuisance algae from growing on your rocks. After a year my rocks are now about 80% covered in coralline, and the only spots of nuisance algae I have are in those areas where the rock is bare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaylorW Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 Just keep your alk and calcium at good levels and wait... I swapped over to my new acrylic about a month ago and I'm already starting to see purple specks on the back and on my pumps. You'll probably notice it first on powerheads or plastic, on my glass sometimes it would turn green first. Just keep your levels in check give it some time then you'll be scraping it off 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorseReef Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 Thanks. I am testing 3 times a week at the same time per day. At this point I am only checking ALK, CAL, and MG regularly. I have started dosing about two weeks ago on a regular basis. I am at about 10ml per day of ALK and CAL. So far this is holding me at 8.2 ALK, 420 CAL, and about 1380 MG. but I get a large variance in my MG testing and am trying to figure out if its me not doing the test the same way each time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrabbyCrabs Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 Coraline can be a nuisance. It clogs up my powerheads 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 There are also a lot of "coralline seeding" products out there by Caribsea, Brightwell, and others. I have no idea if they work, but you might want to look into them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorseReef Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 2 minutes ago, SuncrestReef said: There are also a lot of "coralline seeding" products out there by Caribsea, Brightwell, and others. I have no idea if they work, but you might want to look into them. SuncrestReef, Do you think I should be trying to add it or "Seed" it to the tank? Or should I just let things be? I don't want to be chasing things that are not beneficial in some sort of way. I wouldn't mind it covering some of my very horrible epoxy jobs on my rock. But I don't get to choose where it grows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 1 minute ago, MorseReef said: SuncrestReef, Do you think I should be trying to add it or "Seed" it to the tank? Or should I just let things be? I don't want to be chasing things that are not beneficial in some sort of way. I wouldn't mind it covering some of my very horrible epoxy jobs on my rock. But I don't get to choose where it grows. I never added any commercial products and don't really know if they work. I believe most of my coralline came from snails and frag plugs that were covered in it when I introduced them to my tank. As I go back and look at old photos of my tank, I didn't see any coralline on my rocks for the first 7 months, then it started popping up as small specks that spread slowly. Around 11 - 12 months it just exploded and was everywhere. 7 months: 9 months: 13 months: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaylorW Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 If you have snails or rocks with any corraline algae you don't need to buy anything. It will spread, I've heard of people turning off all flow in their tanks and taking shells or rocks with corraline and scraping it off, letting it settle for a few then turning on pumps to spread it around. Never tried it, imo you don't need to do anything except have a little patience lol. Just keep an eye out for tiny purple specks, and sometimes it starts as green first then turns purple. Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrabbyCrabs Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 I've taken my powerheads covers and scraped the Coraline off into other tanks. Not sure if it worked but the other tanks now have Coraline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 @MorseReef You're welcome to come scrape my back glass clean and take home all the coralline you want! 😂 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parvo99 Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 You can have all of mine as well. Self service. 😅 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimusprime3605 Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 Purple Up or something rather, is what I used, when I first started. It worked. But now, I don't know care for coraline, as it sucks to clean off acrylic.Coraline, it's over rated...lolSent from Atlantis 🤙 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parvo99 Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 As far as the benefits go, a lot of people see it as a sign of a stable growing tank , but other than making the rock prettier, I would think the whole point of “live rock” would be diminished if it was completely covered in coraline. It would defeat the purpose of reef rock being porous for bacterial colonization. And, once it starts growing, don’t get lazy with keeping your glass clean. Once it takes hold, magnetic algae scrapers won’t work. As you can see, I gave up on my side panes 😅. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 6 hours ago, parvo99 said: You can have all of mine as well. Self service. 😅 Hey...Take a number! My glass gets cleaned first!! 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 (edited) 31 minutes ago, parvo99 said: As far as the benefits go, a lot of people see it as a sign of a stable growing tank , but other than making the rock prettier, I would think the whole point of “live rock” would be diminished if it was completely covered in coraline. It would defeat the purpose of reef rock being porous for bacterial colonization. And, once it starts growing, don’t get lazy with keeping your glass clean. Once it takes hold, magnetic algae scrapers won’t work. As you can see, I gave up on my side panes 😅. For areas where my magnet scraper doesn't cut it, I use this razor scraper on a long handle. It works great! Best $14 I've spent. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074KFZF7W Edited May 23, 2019 by SuncrestReef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxmonkeyboy Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 You want pain? I scrape it off all sides of my aquarium :(Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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