Growing Corraline...

[nautilusreef]

This might be a really dumb question, Im a newbie sorta, and have a 10 FOWLR currently and just bought some dead rock at a LFS, I mean man it has zero life on it, I had a few good peices from the same store with some nice purple algae on it (CORRALINE) and I want it to spread around the tank and even on the new dead rock..

 

I have seen other tanks and the stuff is growing on everything including the PVC... What is the secret to growing corraline?

 

Lots of light, Kalkwasser,..... what.... what really stimulates it's growth?? All water quality being decent is there an additive one can add to the water to make it grow?

 

Any comments or tips to growing it like mad would be appreciated..

[JohnO]

My experience is that Coraline will grow as long as you keep your Alkalinity and Calcium ( and Magnesium ) levels high. You don't need much else as is will come with patience.

 

Try to keep it simple and get those parameters at a maximum and you will soon have more Coraline than you can handle.

 

John

[Reefer_Buddha]

you have to introduce coralline into the system first. Either on a frag or live rock. Coralline grows best when calcium levels are optimal and they seem to do better under NO or PC fluoresents. Metal Halide usually bleaches it off.

[ebin]

high levels of calcium and patience are the way. ive had good results at jumpstarting the growth with mark weiss's reef vital dna but can be pricey i got like 8 ounces for 20$. well worth it though. ive heard that kents liquid reactor works well also its cheaper. but ive not seen results. mostly its patience thats the name of the game in reefs. good luck

[mineralrock]

the spread can take anywhere from a month to a year to a few years....it can take an excrutiating abount of time. Optimal conditions are as what everyone else said.....High calcium.....probably around 400ppm or above. Actinic 10 hours a day wont hurt. Do water changes atleast bi weekly (20%) and you should be in the highway to success.

[Aiptasia]

All good advice. Coralline algaes actually prefer less light than many reef tanks (for example, SPS tanks).

 

There is no secret other than actinic light, a stable pH and available calcium, strontium and magnesium additives. Water changes will also replenish other trace elements necessary for good corraline growth.

 

The tanks i've seen with the heaviest corraline growth used either constant kalkwasser drips or a full blown calcium reactor. If you can afford it, a calcium reactor would be the way to go.

 

There's a guy who makes a nano-sized one at www.myreefcreations.com. He's currently working on a hang-on model for reef tanks but it's still in the experimental stage.

 

The next best method is to use two part additives twice a week to keep the pH and calcium levels nice and high.

[yOyOYoo]

I hate the coraline algae in my tank. I don't supplement with anything. I just do some half gallon water changes whenever I'm not feeling lazy, which is like once every week to every two weeks. THe coraline in my tank grows like crazy. It's all over the glass, all over the snail and hermit crab shells, all over the live rock. It's driving me nuts.

 

It grows in these difficult to remove areas of my glass also and it is just a nuisance to me. Maybe I shouldn't have taken out all the coralline eating starfish I had before...

[CT nano reefer]

I'm new to nano tanks, but not to reef keeping.. I have a 65g reef tank with alot of pink and purple coralline algea.. here's my secret...ESV Bionic 2 part liquid, and strontium = coralline explosion! ....again this is what works for me, and may not work for everyone...

[USFnano]

I already have coralline starting to show up after a month in my 10g with a 70w halide and 36w PC. I think it has more to do with your calc/alk/mag levels than anything else.

[Optimum]

I've had no problem spreading corralline under MH lighting. I have seen increased growth with coral vital. Mostly take time especially with dead rock

[trmiv]

i have coralline on my rocks, and a few tiny dots on some powerheads, but it will not grow on my glass at all. thats where I want it though, i really want the back glass covered with coralline. my calcium is about 500, and my alk is 10.2 dkh. Never tested magnesium, i should do that.