trying to get coraline growth

[frankski]

have a 110 gal. for about 3 months( the tank had been up and running at a neighbors house for years) there is very little coraline growth on the rocks. parameters have been good since ive had it and i know he was a good fish keeper.lfs said to add purple up. been doing that for 3 weeks.noticed a slight change. should i add more rocks with coraline buildup on them already and cut back on the the protein skimmer via a timer? any other suggestions?

 

[michaeltx]

scrap the rocks occasionally or direct a powerhead to blow over the top of the rock.
coraline algae will spread spores through out the tank scrapping or blowing will help the spores spread through out the tank.
purple up to me is a waste. the main things coraline needs to grow is
good Lighting
and a good calcium level
if either is on the lower side the coraline wont take off as fast.
Mike

 

[joncat24]

Originally Posted by MichaelTX
scrap the rocks occasionally or direct a powerhead to blow over the top of the rock.
coraline algae will spread spores through out the tank scrapping or blowing will help the spores spread through out the tank.
purple up to me is a waste. the main things coraline needs to grow is
good Lighting
and a good calcium level
if either is on the lower side the coraline wont take off as fast.
Mike
i agree completely...i have used purple up and think it is a waste of time and money. when you egt some growing on front glass scrape it into the flow area and it will spread and you can scrape the rocks some too. patience

 

[frankski]

tried upping the lighting time but ended up with alot of algae. purple up says it increases calcium levels-what else should i use? or nothing? this is probably a hard question to answer but how fast does coraline grow, i see pics of tanks with it on their glass-how long till you should normally get this?
i have 2 65 watt and 2 65 watt actinic.maybe not strong enough?

 

[darknes]

What kind of lighting do you have?
In my experience, coralline algae seems to grow much better under PC lighting than MH lighting.

 

[frankski]

just learning about lighting, the bulbs plug in on on end by a plug and they look like two bulbs in one-if that makes sense.

 

[michaeltx]

your lighting is a bit on the weak side for a 100 gallon tank. on my 55 gallon I had 6 55 watts and it was growing good. but when I had 4 55 watts on it , it was slow growing your double that size. I would say to increase your lighting some.
calcium is dependant on another element in the tank DKH I think *might be wrong** but if you are adding a ton of calcium and this level is right then it wont be a useable substance in the tank. maybe someone can say exactly which it is though. the only thing purple up is is a calcium supplement nothing more nothing less IMO
Mike

 

[michaeltx]

like these if so they are PC lights.
Mike

 

[frankski]

i think thats it.the hood says coralife and all is built in to it,but the light bulbs look the same. should i get a higher wattage bulb or have to get a new setup?

 

[michaeltx]

do you have a pre made setup?
I always like retro fit kits and a canopy can you can always add to it if needed where as a prebuit hood your kinda stuck. the wattage depends on the lenght of the bulbs and most of the ballast will only run certain bulbs on it.
If I rember right the 65 and the 55 bulbs will run on the same ballast the next wattage up is 96 and a much longer bulb.
Mike

 

[fbm]

I added and added calcium and it would not come up, after reading some I figured out that magnesium had to be added as well. You must first get your magnesium up then your calcium will come up. Also new tanks tend to use a lot of calcium and magnesium as I have read and finding out first hand. So make sure your magnesium is up before you add any calcium or you will be wasting money.
I also believe that purple up is just a calcium additive so there is nothing wrong with using it to boost calcium as long as you are testing for it.

 

[frankski]

yeah its prebuilt.im stuck.but the new 100 gal will get a setup like yours.where do you buy ballasts without the hood? is your hood homemade? i'm looking at plans to build a stand and hood myself.

 

[michaeltx]

just do a search for refit lighting kits or DIY lighting reef lighting and look around online cant post links to other sites on here so youll have to goggle it.
that hood is off my 100 gallon tank with 4 55 watt PC and 2 250 watt MH bulbs I bought the hood with the tank and stand about 4 years ago I guess.
Here is a full shot of the tank.
Mike

 

[frankski]

sweet

 

[michaeltx]

I liked it better as a reef. this was just after I set it up from a FOWLR to a reef tank.
Mike

 

[dmjordan]

coraline algae requires a your calcium, alkalinty, and magnesium to all be in check as well as decent lighting.