Coralline.. Scrape it. or leave it grow?

[bgriff]

My tank is over a year old now. Coralline is covering most of the back and parts of the sides (so I can look behind rocks). I was under the impression keeping it on the back is preferred and should be left alone. However, looking at many great pics here on this board, I see many have a clean tank back/sides. So...
Is scraping off the coralline on all tank surfaces a bad thing? Good thing? or just a preference on how the tank looks?
If the back/sides are kept clean, does there need to be other places, like a fuge or sump, where it should be left alone/encouraged to grow? Or is the LR in the tank sufficient?
If one chooses to scrap off massive quantities of coralline off the back, should this be done in stages to prevent a side effect on the bio-system?
Would limiting where it can grow, possibly enhance it where it's allowed to grow?
Thanks!

 

[ktsdad]

My experience has been that is basically your call on where you want it to grow. :thinking:
I always kept the front and sides clean, but let grow everywhere else.
The more you scrape the more you encourage more growth, the scraping helps spread it.
The fact that you have so much is a good thing!

Congrats on having a healthy tank!

 

[bigarn]

Yep ... it's just a matter of preference, tanks do fine with or without it.

 

[pbienkiewi]

i scrape mine so I can see better. I also have so much coraline. It grows crazy.
I drip Kalkwasher to replenish calcium

 

[feixjai]

sorry to bring back old threads but this is the most recent and i need to ask bgriff something.
hey bgrill i was wondering what is that thing as your avatar. i see those at my lfs a lot and want one but have no idea about it. do they require light? what do they eat?

 

[birdy]

that is a tube anemone, and I honestly don't know much about them, except they don't move around like other anemones as they live in a tube that goes into the substrate (need a decent depth of sandbed to have one). They eat meaty foods as other anemones do. I don't believe they have the high lighting requirements the most anemones do. They do not host clownfish and may even eat the fish in your tank if they can catch them.

 

[bgriff]

Originally Posted by feixjai
sorry to bring back old threads but this is the most recent and i need to ask bgriff something.
hey bgrill i was wondering what is that thing as your avatar. i see those at my lfs a lot and want one but have no idea about it. do they require light? what do they eat?
As mentioned, this is a tube anemone.. I had this one over a year in a 55 with 260 watts (Orbits 4x65w).. From what I've read, and seen, they actually are more active at night, so I don't think lighting is an issue.. (mine will fully extend at night) It will eat almost anything that floats by that it can pull in.. haven't had any problems with other tank mates.. though they seem to know to stay away.. As mentioned, they stay in the sand where placed, and may attach to the glass or rocks similar to a feather duster... I feed it regularly, meaty foods like krill, mysis, silversides(?)..

 

[tscuda]

Originally Posted by feixjai
sorry to bring back old threads but this is the most recent and i need to ask bgriff something.
hey bgrill i was wondering what is that thing as your avatar. i see those at my lfs a lot and want one but have no idea about it. do they require light? what do they eat?
I've been wondering the same about yours.