coraline alge

daugherty

part time reefer
i have a question about the purple coraline. what do you need to get it to grow healthy. my tank has never had very much. i have some spots of it that start out purple then turn white. any ideas????
 
Like Pool said,we will need more information to help you out.

How long has this tank been running?
What lights are you using?
Do you test for calcium,akalinity and magnesium?
If you do test for any of those then what are the readings?

For now,I recommend at least test for calcium and akalinity if your aren't already.You can take an old toothbrush and brush any coralline that you see on the rocks.The spores that get brushed off will help seed it in other areas.
 
i have a little over 500 watts of light the tank has been running for 8 years but when i moved it got a new water change i add calcium and mag and stron idione every week the corling on the rock is purple buit only on the under side of the rock on the tops that face the light there is almost none and on the back of the tank it is white.
 
What size tank?
IMO,some coralline reguires low to medium light.The reason I say that,I got coralline growing almost too good except for in the top 4 inches under the water and Im running 432 watts of light.
I think temp. play a part in it( at least in my tank).Mine grows better in temps between 74 and 79 degrees.
You state that your dosing for calcium,mag,stront. and iodine.Are you testing for those?It could also be that the stront and iodine levels are to high.
 
my tank is a 50 gal. and no i have not been testing for them. on the under side of the rocks is where it grows the best in my tank but on the top of the rock not so well there is some but the stuph on the back of the tank is white.
 
You don't really need to dose lots of things if you do your partial water changes regularly. At least once every two weeks or so. Make sure your lights are in good conditions. Replace them every 9-10 months. You will also need a good flow in your tank cause Coraline grow by spores. You can accelerate the process by adding rock with lots of coraline or scrapping a friend's glass and crush the coraline in your tank. You can also try brushing a little the rock with coraline inside the aquarium. Calcium should be around 420-450PPM and Alk 9.5 DkH. I think thats pretty much the best params. to get a NICE coraline growth. Mine just got crazy all over the rocks. They are entirely purple and pink. Hope this helps
 
Did you recently switch lighting or increased lighting.Sounds like you got some die-off from too intense lighting since its still doing well in shaded areas.
 
You do have 10 watts per gallon in your tank, that is pretty excessive...I'm sure it could easily be too intense for it to grow in direct light.
 
I dont know what levels any of the water are. but when i add anything to it i add what the bottle says. i change my water every week. i just added the MH to my tank and it is only on for four hours a day. most of this happened after i moved about sis months ago. and when i moved i hauled almost all the water in coolers so that i did not have to start all over with fresh water. i wish i had a test kit i used all my last one and ust never bought another one.
 
that explains it. When you move, the coralline is exposed to the air which kills it. it will fall off in sheets. my 125 did that and it is just barely starting to come back. It has been about 3 months. all the algae turned white when I moved. Give it time with good parameters and it will come back

-Doc
 
i think i will do that i need to get a good test kit. since i am going to get rid of my bioballs in my sump also i will need to know how the tank is doing.
 
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