Boosting Coraline growth

boomper

boomper

Member
I was wondering what types of treatments and or lights can be used to speed up coraline growth, and if they are safe/worth the trouble. I am currently seeding my base rock and have no problem waiting a year, however I was wondering if there is a good way to speed up the process.
 
donmgicwon

donmgicwon

Member
I was kinda wondering the same thing. I have been adding Kents calcium (1 cap/day) but it doesn't seem to be helping.
 
jsb

jsb

Member
Well I'm by no means a pro at this, but I'll share what I've done so far and what I've been told. Adding Ca alone won't necessarily do the trick. There are other things that need to be apart of the equation. The reason why I say this is I added Ca in hopes that my coraline algea would take off. It grew some, but not a lot. My Ca got up to 450, and still nothing special as far as Coraline was concerned. Now to what I've been told...I was told that Mg plays a good part in this, and I don't have a test kit for that yet so I can't tell you where mine is at. I was also told that algramilk(sp) or something like that will help you Coraline algea. I was also told that this guy started using that stuff, and his coraline got some what out of control. He was actually scraping it off the glass. I haven't started using that yet, because I'm trying to get my Alk and Ca back in balance, and once that happens I might check into that other stuff. That's my story...I'm sure some one with more experience can shed some better light on the subject.
Take care - Jeremy
 
hookedonreefs

hookedonreefs

Member
Just adding straight Ca will not help - it may actually hurt. You need to be adding a balance of Ca and buffer. Just adding Ca will cause you Alk levels to plummet which in NOT good. Instead try adding a balanced additive that will raise Alk and Ca levels together. You want to reach a point where Alk is stable between 10 and 14 (some people have slightly different ranges)(and 14 is a little high IMO), and Ca is around 430-450. Once you can KEEP these levels with VERY little swing in numbers, then you want to find a nice piece of LR with corraline on it. Scrape it with a denture toothbrush while you have a PH pointed directly at it. This will help spread the corraline spores. In a few days you should see good spreads of corraline. Do this a few times, and you should have great growth in a few months. Keep in mind - the more corraline growth the more Ca and Alk uptake - so your dosing may need to be adjusted!
GL
hooked
 
fender

fender

Active Member
Keeping Alk high has helped mine spread more than Calcium.
Of course I have no trouble in my tank keeping Calcium high, but Alk is a constant battle.
 
blackomne

blackomne

Member
Light is also a major component of the mix. I found the actinic lights had faster growth than the natural daylight for the coralline. The amount of light or length of time they are on can play a major role in the coralline growth.
 
hookedonreefs

hookedonreefs

Member
I almost forgot one trick I have to corraline growth....bleach.
Put about a capful in each week and you have good corraline growth.
JUST KIDDING!!!
DON'T PUT BLEACH IN YOUR TANKS!!!!!
 
T

tizzo

Guest
I used a product by Ken Weiss(?) called Coral Vital when I set up my tank, I'm not sure if it WAS that, but I got pea sized patches of coralline all over everything in about 2 months.
 
donmgicwon

donmgicwon

Member
My Alk. has read high all along. I am using both Kent Marine Conc. Liquid Cal. (6ml/day) and Stront. & Moly. (10ml /every 4 days. I have a quite a bit of growth on my tonga branch (1 pc. was completely brown when I got it, after 2 months its almost completely pink) but my Fiji is not doing as well. Also on the Tonga I have all these red growths (like little hands) all over, anyone know what these are.:D
 
dana&pj

dana&pj

Member
I am using a product called "Coral-vital" and "Coral-vital LSB" because my Calcium was good (around 450) and my purple algea was failing. This stuff made a difference in the first three days. All of the coraline recession stopped and new coraline in growing. It also seems to be helping my soft corals especially my pulsing zenia (sp?) It was expensive, but worth every cent.
see it at: www.marcweissco.com
 
gregvabch

gregvabch

Active Member
calcium and alk are important but before i ever started messing with these levels my coraline algae was blooming all over my tank. right after i installed 4 48" VHO's over my tank my coraline algae went crazy. lighting has a lot to do with it.
 
stapler

stapler

Member
Not sure if anyone already mentioned it, but argamilk has had some great success with people. I personally never used it, the coraline seems to be slowly growing in my tank.
 
donmgicwon

donmgicwon

Member

Originally posted by gregvabch
right after i installed 4 48" VHO's over my tank my coraline algae went crazy. lighting has a lot to do with it.

How long do you run your VHO's?
 
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