Cant Get Coralline Alge To Grow In My Tank

[redneck3298]

NO MATTER HOW MUCH PURPLE UP AND CORAL BOOST I PUT IN MY TANK I CANNOT GET AND PURPLE CORALLINE ALGE TO GROW IN MY TANK WHY??

[josh holt]

thats great. i didnt have coraline algae growing in my reef tank for the first year. all of a sudden it took off. now i wish it didnt. its a pain costantly scraping the viewing panes of the tank.

[redneck3298]

BUT THE TANK HAS BEE SET UP FOR 10 YEARS AND I FEEL LIKE I AM DOING SOME THING WRONG

[bbehring]

10 years and no coraline? seems impossible even with low lighting. FWIW, IPSF has actual coraline plates that are about 3" square that have coraline growing on them. Just toss a couple of those babies in and through some light on them and you should see the coraline migrate over.

[redneck3298]

I HAVE 4 65 WATTERS ON THE TANK AND ABOUT 150 POUNDS OF FUSION TONGA LIVE ROCK IN THERE AND WERE CAN I GET SOME OF THOSE PLATES

[drummereef]

What are your alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium levels?

[israelnajar]

4 - 65 watts .. any actinics? Coraline is a deep water algae. So the wavelength of the actinic simulates deep water spectrum and stimulates coraline growth.

At least this is my understanding of it.

[2fishy]

Or do you have something in the tank that is consuming coraline algae?

[redneck3298]

NOTHIN THAT EATS THE CORALINE IN MY TANK I HAVE 2 DUAL DAY LIGHTS AND 2 DUAL ACTINICS MY PH IS 8.3 CALCIUM IS 480 PPM SALT IS 1.025 NITRATES 0 AMMONIA 0

[israelnajar]

Maybe you can get some coraline spores from a local reefer. Just scrape a pump or something that has some and release the scrapings into your tank.

[redneck3298]

WELL I WORK IN A REEF SUPPLY STORE, THE ROCKS IN THE TANK ARE COVERED WITH CORALINE ALGE

[Ebmorri]

Don't you need to introduce something into the tank that has coraline on it? Find someone that has a rock with some on it and put that in your tank. You can rub it on other rocks to help seed them. If the coraline on that rock dies off then I would wonder about the tank. Make sure when you get rock with coraline on it to keep it wet/submerged as much as passable, the air will kill it. Thanks my 2 cents
Erick

(Edit) Was typing when you posted sorry. Doe sthat coraline stay alive?

[redneck3298]

I HAVE A 150 POUNDS OF MATURE TONGA LIVE ROCK IN THE TANK NOW

[Ebmorri]

And does that "MATURE TONGA" have coraline on it or did it have it on it when you put it in the tank?

[redneck3298]

IT DOSE HAVE IT I DONT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT ITS JUST ON THE GLASS I DONT GET IT AND I JUST SEE THESE TANKS THAT HAVE BEEN SET UP FOR A YEAR AND HAVE IT ALL OVER AND MY 10 YEAR OLD TANK DOSE NOT

[dendro982]

Forgive me, but would you, please, take Caps Lock key off? Very difficult to read, kind of kindergarden feel. No offence

I had similar problem for a months, until checked magnesium levels, and started raising them. It helped. Could be coincidence, could be not. And I'm keepeing alkalinity between 8 and 11 dKh, what is yours?

You can try also to put a piece of LR with coraline and piece without it in the refugium, or another safe place in the tank, where urchins and turbos can't get it, and see what happens. Although the urchins are supposed to spread coraline int the tank, this didn't happened to my tank.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[Travis L. Stevens]

Post your water parameters and lighting (in detail). We don't know your tank, so you'll need to give us a clue.

[Sarcophyton874]

The best thing to do is start out with quality live rock like Marshall Island. I've used Fiji before and I couldn't get ANY coraline to grow. Another thing to remember, no matter how basic, is to keep up with water changes and calcium carbonate dosing. You might also want to check out GARF's website for coraline scrapings.

[woodycb]

calcium and alk.

[cabowabo]

Put a cured piece of LR with lots of coraline in your tank with flow from power head or return blowing right at it.
Add B-Ionic 2 part Alk and Calcium to tank at recomended dosing for your size tank every day.
It wont happen overnight but it will work.

[muerk1]

If every other parameter is perfect in your system, you may want to increase the flow in your tank. When I put a new powerhead in my tank, coralline algae started growing incredibly fast on the rocks directly in the flow of water. Just a thought.

[dbrann11]

It sound like he has lots of coralline on his rocks just not on the glass. When i got my fiji rock the corraline was all bleached, within a month most colored up. Its been about 5 months and it spread to the powerheads and the heater with only small specs on the glass. It doesn't really spread, it seem like the turbos and astreas are keeping it in check on the glass. My calc is 460, alk 8.2, ph 8.3 temp 78-79. It actually seems to spread faster in areas with diffuse light.

[pv1191]

here is my tank at about 8 weeks. About a week ago coroline started in the sand bed. But only afer I started dosing with calcuim and alk. My levels were very low. Once fixed the purple started comming out.