No Coralline Algae Growth...Why?

[xthunt]

2 hours ago, squamptonbc said:

I use Hydra 26 HD on my tank, and coralline is growing well, mostly purple, but there is some dark red mixed in as well. My light is set pretty random, I just flipped the different options until I got a light I liked, tank also seems to like.

 

Ca is kept around 440

Mg is around 1300

Alk is kept around 8.6

 

The only thing I dose is ESV 2 part manually each day 10ml.

 

I use H2 Ocean salt with salinity kept at 35ppt.

What percentages/ratio of the colors you running? I have a trochus snail that has some red/maroon coralline on it that softly glows under actinic. Havent seen it spread though.  

[squamptonbc]

2 hours ago, xthunt said:

What percentages/ratio of the colors you running? I have a trochus snail that has some red/maroon coralline on it that softly glows under actinic. Havent seen it spread though.  

 

At peak which runs 1330 to 1900

 

UV 14%

Violet 40%

Royal Blue 102%

Blue 100%

Green 7%

Deep red 11%

Cool white 34%

 

 

[Recci]

I manged to get good corraline growth on my AI prime by moving the spectrum to 10000k and turning down the intensity to 40%. Within a week of doing this corraline started to appear. I then increased to around 13000k and 50% intensity after a few weeks and its still growing well.  You can do this in the app if you go to spectrum wheel rather than tuning the individual channels. 

[MrObscura]

I'm not doubting your experience but everything I've read concludes that coraline prefers a blue spectrum. 

 

Anyway, my tank is going on 4 months old, and between seeding with purple helix and whats been introduced via frag plugs my rock is completely covered in the green precursor to coraline and there are a number of purple spots around the tank. 

[Recci]

On my old tank I have a 10000k compact t5 with one bar blue actinic and the corraline grew much better than on this tank. It was thick with the stuff. The closer to sun light the better the growth on all photosynthetic life.  6500k t5's will grow coral and corraline better than any fancy 20000k led and that is fact. The only downsides are that your tank will look like urinal.

[MrObscura]

Temp does not equal spectrum. It's simply for asteticsaes based on  the human eye. 

 

A 10k light just means it looks yellow not that it necessarily produces a spec anywhere near sunlight. A proper blue light spectrum can offer far more uv and usable light for corals than a "natural looking light." 

 

This is based of research by reef farmers, propagation and conservationists far more knowledgeable and experienced than i. 

 

In the end it has nothing to do with color temp but spec. A blue spectrum is not the same as a blue looking light. 

[xthunt]

1 hour ago, Recci said:

I manged to get good corraline growth on my AI prime by moving the spectrum to 10000k and turning down the intensity to 40%. Within a week of doing this corraline started to appear. I then increased to around 13000k and 50% intensity after a few weeks and its still growing well.  You can do this in the app if you go to spectrum wheel rather than tuning the individual channels. 

When you set the 10k or 13k, you leave the green and red as it set them, or adjust them down? Got pics?

[Recci]

12 hours ago, MrObscura said:

Temp does not equal spectrum. It's simply for asteticsaes based on  the human eye. 

 

A 10k light just means it looks yellow not that it necessarily produces a spec anywhere near sunlight. A proper blue light spectrum can offer far more uv and usable light for corals than a "natural looking light." 

 

This is based of research by reef farmers, propagation and conservationists far more knowledgeable and experienced than i. 

 

In the end it has nothing to do with color temp but spec. A blue spectrum is not the same as a blue looking light. 

Fair enough.

[Recci]

11 hours ago, xthunt said:

When you set the 10k or 13k, you leave the green and red as it set them, or adjust them down? Got pics?

I leave it where it set them because if you adjust them down it changes the colour temp. But what i did to go from 10000k to 13000k was simply adjust the greens and reds down a bit then rechecked the spectrum wheel. I can post pics later.

[OPtasia]

I've found through hydroponics projects i've done in the past, that the availability of red spectrum light really encourages spread and growth. Putting that to the test vs. straight up blue light would be an interesting experiment.

[xthunt]

I put a few hours of default 13k in the middle of my schedule to see what happens. After a week or so, extend the duration of it.  

[Recci]

I also think that intensity of the light has a lot to do with it. Thats is why T5's tend to grow corraline so well. The light is more diffused and not as harsh as LED light.  AI lights are to powerful at full strength and it kills off the corraline. I doubt Ill ever go above 60% on my nano. 

[Nano sapiens]

IME, coralline algae has done best in somewhat higher nutrient, diffuse lighting, infrequent water changes and acrylic tanks.  Over the decades, the best coralline growth that I have ever experienced was in my old 55g acrylic aquarium with a couple standard T12 fluorescents bulbs plus CFs (Compact Fluorescent) producing a combined spectral output of ~10 - 12K.  I had to use an old credit card and sometimes a razor blade on a weekly basis, and even then the stuff grew so thickly that it was difficult to remove.  Once a year or so I had to wet sand the front pane due to the inevitable scratches made by cleaning.

 

In my current old 12g nano with a wide coverage DIY LED array, coralline will cover any exposed live rock surface (takes ~ 4 - 6 months to completely cover an area), a plastic bulkhead, plastic overflow grating and the lower portion of the plastic back wall, but will very rarely grow on the side glass panels.  

 

Different coralline species will colonize different environments, so having as diverse a population in the tank as possible should help with coverage.

[Tamberav]

On 10/18/2018 at 7:37 AM, OPtasia said:

I've found through hydroponics projects i've done in the past, that the availability of red spectrum light really encourages spread and growth. Putting that to the test vs. straight up blue light would be an interesting experiment.

 

Would have to agree here, my DT when I had the 40 Breeder up had sparse coraline, however the 20g fuge to that same system had a coral compulsion fuge par bulb (heavy red spectrum with some blue and white leds) had every surface covered in THICK coralline. It is also worth noting it was a high nutrient system.

[OPtasia]

... and then once that starts growing in, you'll spend the rest of your days trying to scrape it off of the glass. 😉

[Lula_Mae]

On 10/17/2018 at 7:19 PM, MrObscura said:

Temp does not equal spectrum. It's simply for asteticsaes based on  the human eye. 

 

A 10k light just means it looks yellow not that it necessarily produces a spec anywhere near sunlight. A proper blue light spectrum can offer far more uv and usable light for corals than a "natural looking light." 

 

This is based of research by reef farmers, propagation and conservationists far more knowledgeable and experienced than i. 

 

In the end it has nothing to do with color temp but spec. A blue spectrum is not the same as a blue looking light. 

10k is white, not yellow.  6500k is more yellow and not so good for keeping coral colors (and I believe sunlight is closer to 6500k color temperature, if I remember right).  10k is much better for colors.  You are correct that a fuller spectrum is better for the corals.  My best coralline growth occurred under my old T5 fixture, a 10k bulb and an actinic was all it had and it grew coralline like crazy!  If they hadn't quit making bulbs for it, I'd still use it.

[reeferx2]

I swear I've been sort of neglecting my tank for months now, sporadically doing water changes, running chemi blue / not running chemi blue randomly, never testing, blindly dosing 1ml amounts of A+B here and there......coralline growth has EXPLODED, my corals are all happy as shit, even my 1 SPS is polpying like it's trying to win an award, although it's coloration isn't the greatest.  

 

Worth mentioning, I've been running the Radion AB setting on my prime at 70% peak. 

[mcarroll]

Intensity of light is what matters...along with nutrient levels (must be available) and mineral levels (ca,alk and mg must be in coral-range).

 

Higher light levels will require higher nutrient levels or make consistent availability even more important.

[ConnorD42]

On 12/29/2017 at 5:14 PM, reeferx2 said:

My reef has been established for about 3 years now. It is a Fluval Edge 6 that I de-rimmed about 6 months ago. Before I de-rimmed it, I had slight coralline growth, like minuscule, after the de-rim it all disappeared and never returned. 

 

My parameters are steady at:

 

1350 

430

9

.2 - .5 NO3

.015   PO4

 

Filtration: 

AC20 w/ sponge/chemi-blue/chaeto

 

Lighting:

AI Prime with Royal Blues @ 40% / Cool White @ 15% @ peak values. 12 hour light cycle. 

 

Even though I know coralline can be a nuisance, I'm still incredibly intrigued to know why I have no coralline growth.

 

My reef is mixed, 18 corals in total and counting, I have softies, LPS, and 1 piece of SPS, all of which are doing great. 

 

 

I've only been in the hobby a for about 8.5 months, but if you haven't yet tried the placing a piece of rock with coralline on it in front of you powerhead, that worked scary well for me and my tank more or less exploded with coralline algae over the course of probably 2-3 months. For the first 4-5 months I wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong or what, but that seemed to work really well for me haha now I don't know if there's any controlling it! (minus taking a razor to the glass, but you know what I mean)