Best recepie for coraline growth?

[fretfreak13]

I love the purple look. What is the best way to get great coraline growth?

[StevieT]

time

[aaron1987]

time

 

And Calcium

[jedimasterben]

And Calcium

And magnesium, at that, but both come standard in salt mixes. You don't need any additives or anything, no matter what people tell you.

 

Also, OP, you need a source for it to start - coralline doesn't just pop up on its own. Get some from someone local to you and pulverize it into a fine power, if you can then put it through a blender it could be even better. Then just turn off your pumps, dump it in, and as time goes by (a few months to a year) it will start growing everywhere. I've had my system up since last December, I've seeded it three times, and I have one rock with a 1/8th inch section that has some on it.

[TeflonTomDosh]

Just scraped about 2 lbs of it off my glass. Be careful what you wish for LOL

[jedimasterben]

Most people love it until they have to deal with it all the time

[GHill762]

And Calcium

I'm over 8 months in, calcium hovers near 500.. very little coraline growth.. I dosed purple up for a while too.. still have very little coraline, though recently the plastics in my tank have had a little more growth.. still none on the glass except maybe 2 spots of green coraline..

[fretfreak13]

All my tanks have been the same way as yours, GHill. Cal and mag levels have been fine and I don't dose anything. I also have purple up but never used it because I didn't really know what it was or had heard of it on any of the forums (won it in a Chinese auction thingy at my reef club).

 

I'll ask around and see if anyone has an overabundance of it to the point that its annoying like yours, Teflon. I'll nab it from them and try the blender thing. lol

[Deleted User 3]

My coralline is 'splattered' like a thing layer of circles everywhere on my rocks lol. Idk how to describe it. Its like you took coralline purple and green paint, and splattered it watered down a bit.

[jedimasterben]

All my tanks have been the same way as yours, GHill. Cal and mag levels have been fine and I don't dose anything. I also have purple up but never used it because I didn't really know what it was or had heard of it on any of the forums (won it in a Chinese auction thingy at my reef club).

Purple Up is simply a weak calcium supplement that also contains iodine. No one should ever waste their money on it.

 

My coralline is 'splattered' like a thing layer of circles everywhere on my rocks lol. Idk how to describe it. Its like you took coralline purple and green paint, and splattered it watered down a bit.

Some of mine looks like that. Most of my coralline is actually white (but not bleached).

[TeflonTomDosh]

Purple Up is simply a weak calcium supplement that also contains iodine. No one should ever waste their money on it.

 

 

Some of mine looks like that. Most of my coralline is actually white (but not bleached).

Like I said, come get some of mine. I haven't scraped the back glass in, well, ever I dont think.

[Tbone675]

go to lfs store or local friend, get a nice small piece of lr covered with coralline keep it wet on the ride home (like you would a coral) and scrape it off into tank. give it a few weeks and it will take off. keep you alk cal up too.

[jedimasterben]

I wouldn't mind it on my back glass, but it's being a dick right now and growing on the front and sides!

[TeflonTomDosh]

I wouldn't mind it on my back glass, but it's being a dick right now and growing on the front and sides!

yeah does the same in my tank. PIA if you ask me. I bought some LR off some kid off CL a while ago, didn't know it was that "purple" rock and the coralline is now starting to cover that too. Might move some asterinas from my bc29 to the 40b to handle some of it

[Rehype]

Low phosphates...as they inhibit calcification.

[jedimasterben]

yeah does the same in my tank. PIA if you ask me. I bought some LR off some kid off CL a while ago, didn't know it was that "purple" rock and the coralline is now starting to cover that too. Might move some asterinas from my bc29 to the 40b to handle some of it

I'm considering the same thing, but they'd be from the LFS.

[TeflonTomDosh]

I'm considering the same thing, but they'd be from the LFS.

I'll never buy rock from a LFS again. Not unless I have store credit there for something else. I got 40 lbs of that purple stuff the same in sand and a few frags and a chromis for 100 bucks from the kid off CL. TIming is everything with CL though, just gotta wait til what you're looking for come available. Speaking off. Looking for a long shallow rimless. I'm thinking 60x18x14. Wonder what it'd cost me to have one built. ahhhhh

[beyondtheblue]

the best way to get it off glass is razor blade. You can get urchins to eat it but they usually go for the rocks and you generally want it on the rocks. wtf is an asterina?? I just used purple up and liquid calcium and my rock is 40% covered. My tank is on a "restart" due to a move that did not go as intended, so calcium is not taken up by corals at this time.

[Nano sapiens]

Low phosphates...as they inhibit calcification.

 

Could well be the case here. When I used to feed phosphate rich pellets and flake food I had Coralline growing on everything. Since I stopped pellets and switched to low phosphate foods, I have hardly seen any new growths. Recent Phosphate tests in my tank always show '0' now (Salifert).

[fretfreak13]

An asterina is a little starfish, often hitch hikers. I was not aware that they ate coraline, and that could defiently be the reason why I never friggin had much in my last tank if it is the case. lol

 

Yes, razor blades work wonders on coraline. When I did get it on my glass thats what I used and it cleaned off perfectly. Careful with acyclic though, you can still use the blades just be more careful because its easy to scratch. I like the look of the purple rocks, and the second I see it on the glass it comes off so it doesn't get out of control like that for me. Well, that is, when I have it. haha

[james1990]

noob question, whats so great about coralline anyway? besides it looking cool

[beyondtheblue]

An asterina is a little starfish, often hitch hikers. I was not aware that they ate coraline, and that could defiently be the reason why I never friggin had much in my last tank if it is the case. lol

 

Yes, razor blades work wonders on coraline. When I did get it on my glass thats what I used and it cleaned off perfectly. Careful with acyclic though, you can still use the blades just be more careful because its easy to scratch. I like the look of the purple rocks, and the second I see it on the glass it comes off so it doesn't get out of control like that for me. Well, that is, when I have it. haha

 

ah lil starfish...gotcha. was scratching my head lol

 

noob question, whats so great about coralline anyway? besides it looking cool

inhibits the growth of nuisance algae such as green hair algae. And....it looks cool !!!

[jedimasterben]

I'll never buy rock from a LFS again. Not unless I have store credit there for something else. I got 40 lbs of that purple stuff the same in sand and a few frags and a chromis for 100 bucks from the kid off CL. TIming is everything with CL though, just gotta wait til what you're looking for come available. Speaking off. Looking for a long shallow rimless. I'm thinking 60x18x14. Wonder what it'd cost me to have one built. ahhhhh

I meant the asterinas, not the rocks. I'd never, ever, ever buy "live" rock from an LFS. All future rock will come from John at Reefcleaners.

 

my LFS has had a 48x36x14 rimless sitting at their shop for a while now, he just sold it a few weeks ago. He'd had a badass stand custom made for it and everything, and the original buyer backed out. When I heard that he sold the whole setup for $1200 I almost cried. I wanted it.

 

Could well be the case here. When I used to feed phosphate rich pellets and flake food I had Coralline growing on everything. Since I stopped pellets and switched to low phosphate foods, I have hardly seen any new growths. Recent Phosphate tests in my tank always show '0' now (Salifert).

high phosphate levels inhibit calcification, not low.

 

noob question, whats so great about coralline anyway? besides it looking cool

nothing at all is good about it once it decides rocks aren't cool anymore.

[lakshwadeep]

+1 to low phosphates and less lighting (but some types like Titanoderma can thrive in intense lighting). Also, it uses a lot of magnesium in addition to calcium for its skeleton.

[Nano sapiens]

high phosphate levels inhibit calcification, not low.

 

True. But Phosphate (in small quantity) is still needed for our organisms to grow. Question is, what level of Phosphate is best for Coralline? Can too little Phosphate result in little to no Coralline growth? Are other nutrients more important to Coralline growth?