Any Way to Increase Coraline Algae Growth?

My tank has been up for about 3 1/2 months now and I haven't seen much algae growth. Does anybody know any ways to up the coraline algae in the tank? Thanks...
 

michaeltx

Moderator
good lights, good flow, and good calcium. it will take awhile for you to start to see it but when it shows up and all the conditions are right for it it will explode.
one thing though its a lower light algae so it doent do very well under halides.
if you want to make it show up alittle faster seed it with one good piece of LR that is covered in it and scrape it under the blowing powerhead to spread the spores.
Mike
 

michaeltx

Moderator
you dont have to scrape it completely off the rock even with a new toothbrush will scater the spores.
You can flake pieces off and place around the tank but most of the time is held on pretty tight to the rock.
Mike
 

copeseter

Member
Wow I didn't know it wasn't suppose to grow good under halides. I have halides and have to scrape it off the glass every 2 days.
I have found it you direct a power head directly at what you want covered, it grows much faster than in other places.
 

michaeltx

Moderator
depends on the species you have growing I only had coraline algae on the bottom sides of rocks and in the shaded areas. under PC's it took off and covered everything.
Mike
 

scopus tang

Active Member
Yep! I agree PC lighting (especially actinics) is awesome for coralline growth! I'm also seeing it all over the glass under my MH, but very little on the uppersurface of the rock. Wonder if it has something to do with the light absorbtion of the glass from the aquarium, since most aquariums are made using glass with a faint blue tint? Just an observation and a thought.
 
I just bought a 4 rack of T5s lights and added some coral-vite, then top the tank off with some kalkwasser mix just like my LFS guru said and it took 3 days and now the crushed coral is caked bright red.
I went to one of the many LFS in my area and (even though the rest of the store looked a bit run down) the saltwater tanks were all bright red and purple so i asked the guy who was running it; i followed his instructions and it really is amazing. I am sure it will take time to spread over the LR but i see the purple,red, and green coraline growing in my tank now.
 

michaeltx

Moderator
Originally Posted by HEADLESSFISH
http:///forum/post/2557931
I just bought a 4 rack of T5s lights and added some coral-vite, then top the tank off with some kalkwasser mix just like my LFS guru said and it took 3 days and now the crushed coral is caked bright red.
I went to one of the many LFS in my area and (even though the rest of the store looked a bit run down) the saltwater tanks were all bright red and purple so i asked the guy who was running it; i followed his instructions and it really is amazing. I am sure it will take time to spread over the LR but i see the purple,red, and green coraline growing in my tank now.
most the red and green will probably dieoff and be replaced with the purple its the most aggressive of coralines and most adptable.
Mike
 
What is kalkwasser mix?
Originally Posted by HEADLESSFISH
http:///forum/post/2557931
I just bought a 4 rack of T5s lights and added some coral-vite, then top the tank off with some kalkwasser mix just like my LFS guru said and it took 3 days and now the crushed coral is caked bright red.
I went to one of the many LFS in my area and (even though the rest of the store looked a bit run down) the saltwater tanks were all bright red and purple so i asked the guy who was running it; i followed his instructions and it really is amazing. I am sure it will take time to spread over the LR but i see the purple,red, and green coraline growing in my tank now.
 

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by AquariumRookie
http:///forum/post/2558460
What is kalkwasser mix?
A way to add calcium to a tank.
Not neccessary unless your tank has a large population of SPS, clams, etc. that are sucking it out. Otherwise, regualr water changes will supplement your Calc just fine.
 

sk8shorty01

Active Member
Originally Posted by HEADLESSFISH
http:///forum/post/2557931
I just bought a 4 rack of T5s lights and added some coral-vite, then top the tank off with some kalkwasser mix just like my LFS guru said and it took 3 days and now the crushed coral is caked bright red.

To me this sounds like cyanobacteria. I believe you are having a problem either with flow or with a nutrient overload in your tank. I would do a search on "red slime" or "cyano" and see if any of those pictures look like what you have. I could be wrong, but based on your statement this was my first thought.
 

sk8shorty01

Active Member
Originally Posted by jaime74
http:///forum/post/2558517
Just use calcium and magnesium together and it will grow very fast.

But make sure that you are not adding anything that you are not testing for. You can have too much of these things, so make sure that you are only adding when your tank is low.
 

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by sk8shorty01
http:///forum/post/2559188
But make sure that you are not adding anything that you are not testing for. You can have too much of these things, so make sure that you are only adding when your tank is low.
Agreed; it sounds like a potential cyano outbreak and overdosing can be very bad.
 

michaeltx

Moderator
I missed the 3 day part of that post yeah I doubt that is coraline it may be the start of coraline but it really doesnt grow that quickly.
Mike
 
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