Coraline ?

[nannodad]

So all that I have read is coraline is a good thing and means your tank is progressing. But with all params stable how long till coraline starts to develop? my tank has been up since the end of June.

[johnmaloney]

it won't appear out of nowhere, you have to have it added somehow, it usually comes on liverock. when it gets there and spreads, get ready to start scraping glass. if you have a friend in the hobby nearby offer to scrape their glass if you can keep the coralline shavings, watch them jump!

[tinyreef]

coralline can be considered pretty or ugly, obviously that's completely subjective.

 

but the reason coralline is considered good is that it grows optimally in mostly the same conditions as stony corals. high calcium, good alk, no PO4, ample lighting, low algae, good grazers, and moderate to strong flows. there are probably a couple of hundred different types of coralline with different needs but the common pink & purple types usually need the same things as stonys need to grow.

 

so when you see coralline really begin to 'sprout' and 'spread' that will give you an easy visual indication of optimal conditions that allow for stonys, which was (still is?) the preferred corals to be raised by hobbyists back in the 80's and 90's. hth

[reefdan]

+1 on what tinyreef said.

 

coralline is also considered beneficial because it competes w/ nuisance algaes (hair algae and the hard green film algae that can grow on rocks).

 

you'll most likely get it on a frag you pick up. scraping it always seemed to help it spread in my tank. i think the spores are released that way. give it 2-3 months of stable parameters and you'll see the pink and purple start to take hold.

[lakshwadeep]

Magnesium will be a necessary element to encouraging coralline growth, and low levels will not be helpful.