duckhuntboy Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 I've had a minibow 7 set up for over a month, and I still have no coraline algae growth. I was just wondering when I could expect to see this stuff? Also, I was wondering what Coraline algae likes your tank to be (chemical-wise) for the best growth. Does it need correct alkalinity levels, calcium levels? Does it need iodine, etc? Link to comment
duckhuntboy Posted February 25, 2003 Author Share Posted February 25, 2003 Sorry about not using the search first. Just wondering if I should expect the coraline growth yet in my tank. It is fully cycled, as it has been for a couple weeks. Link to comment
Crakeur Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 some people get it right away, others don't ever see it. If you want to fuel the growth, pick up some plugs from ipsf.com or get some live rock that is covered with the stuff. Link to comment
harbingerofthefish Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 I was thinking about finding someone with a surplus, and have them scrape me off some off thier glass and just add it to my tank. Link to comment
tinyreef Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 harb, duckboy is correct with the ca/alk and stuff. regardless if you seed your system or not the chemical conditions will be the determining factors of the coralline's growth rates. better to maintain your ca/alk as high as you can (together) to promote coralline. there's a 'carbonate hardness' thread in advanced that discusses this a little. your optimum pH will be around 8.4, i believe. in that thread thiel (thru 2nd party) suggests mg dosing for balancing the calcium. i didn't realize it affected pH so much tho. maybe thru the conversion of the CaCO3 (i.e. lowering carbonate hardness ??? ) but i will definitely push up the calcium levels by bringing them to 'equilibrium' ratio-wise. also mg is used heavily by coralline (i.e. directly into chlorophyll or into the body mass kinda like dolomite, i believe). Link to comment
duckhuntboy Posted February 25, 2003 Author Share Posted February 25, 2003 That's probably going to be some of my problem, is I lack an Mg and Ca test kit. I have plenty of coralline in every shade of pink and purple already established on my new live rock, so I really don't need to get any from anywhere. I just feel like coralline growth kind of shows that your tank is able to hold corals in comfort, not just to keep them alive. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'll try to find myself a salifert Ca test kit (but they're spendy for a college boy). What is carbonate hardness? I know what it should be in your tank, but scientifically, what is it? Link to comment
tinyreef Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 here's a couple of links that explain it (actually touch on it, alk, not specifically carbonate tho) without too much scientific mumbo jumbo imo. you can look around saltaquarium.about.com's site for a more in-depth carbonate explanation but alk is the real critical issue imo. tullock's http://www.amdareef.com/ho_chem1.htm holmes-farley's http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb...eb2003/chem.htm hth Link to comment
harbingerofthefish Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 tiny- My deal is that my LR, with the exception of a few pieces, are absically base rock. I've been keeping my dkh around 8, PH is 8.3+/-, and calcium in the 450-460 range. The little spots of coralline I had from the start have spread some, just not enough yet to encroch onto the rest of my rock. I just think a little boost couldn't hurt. thanks for the reads Link to comment
tinyreef Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 that's true, you've got a point to try and diversify your coralline strains. you may be able to add other colors or encrusting types that might be faster growing or conducive in your system. i was just suggesting to optimize the environment first but your (harb) system seems pretty good already. a couple of different species would make for a more balanced system imo. Link to comment
kimura Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 Hang in there duckhuntboy, I didn't see any growth till I started to dose CA & ALK. Even then It took a few months for the stuff to grow. Now I have pink and a green type of coraline algae. It's all over the place! It's even on some of my macro in the fuge. Basically anything in my tank that stays in the water for a few weeks will start to grow coraline. But this didn't happen till after my tank began to mature. Link to comment
wetworx101 Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 Some argue that a healthy reef may never grow coralline at all...heres the best way to explain: In well planted tanks, the algae doesnt grow because plants absorb all the nutrients. A truly healthy tank. In a reef aquarium, it can be argued that excess nutrients for algae and coraline are not desired, and so a healthy reef would have none...so although having it there in case of a nutrient bloom would be nice...coralline is as much a sign of a healthy tank in a reef system as green algae is in a freshwater plant tank... Link to comment
duckhuntboy Posted February 27, 2003 Author Share Posted February 27, 2003 Interesting stuff to know. I'll give it another month or two and see what happens. I just want to make sure everything is the way it should be, and that my tank is healthy. Link to comment
harbingerofthefish Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 beeker...wetworx- intresting point. Since I moved from my 5 into my 7 I have almost nonexistant algae growth. My 5 had this sheet of algae on the back glass that every other day or so my snails would rummage through. Since going a little larger is hasn't returned. I had a little red dust starting to form on the sand bed, but the Nass. and Conch got rid of that pretty quick like. So it makes since that if there is not a high nutrient base for the corraline to grow off of, there will be no reason for it to grow. Link to comment
wmfink Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 Buy yourself some Kalkwasser and mix it in with your top off water everyday. Important to add slowly with a doser. This will greatly enhance your coraline growth. Link to comment
wetworx101 Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 Glad I made sense! BTW, you never mentioned your tank specs, as I am wondering what else may have changed that might be inhibiting your coralline growth. I have noticed in particular that refugiums seem to inhibit its growth quite a bit, since the macro absorbs the nutrients for coralline. (except the calcium, which leaves more for the corals anyways!!) I remember when I switched my 60 cube from a berlin setup (sump, LR, & skimmer only) to the more natural method of a fuge with mud/dsb/plenum with macro. My coralline growth stopped. Link to comment
duckhuntboy Posted March 4, 2003 Author Share Posted March 4, 2003 Well, I'll get back to you on my alk/calcium, etc. levels, as my most recent test kits were shipped to the wrong address over a month ago, and I'm still waiting for them to re-send it my way (marinedepot). my salinity was 1.025 for a while, but I recently changed it to 1.023. My ammonia is zero, my nitrites are zero, and my nitrates are pretty un-noticeable. My tank setup is below. I only dose DT's about once a week, and thats the only thing I dose, although I am probably going to purchase some coral vital pretty soon. Being a poor guy, what would your suggestions be to boost my calcium levels under a budget? (although I don't know what they are, I'm sure they're not sky high) Link to comment
tinyreef Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 try this, http://store.yahoo.com/mrswages/mrswagpiclim.html it's kalkwasser but without the extra $7 or so kent marine and the others charge for their labels. just be careful adding it. don't od! hth Link to comment
duckhuntboy Posted March 4, 2003 Author Share Posted March 4, 2003 Mrs. Wages and I spoke a couple days before I posted this... Nice lady. Nice accent. Link to comment
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