How do i grow coralline algae ?

gmendez619

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Hey guys I have just started my tank and its been running a bit over 2 weeks but I would like to grow some coralline algae on the piece of rock I have in there. If anyone could help me and tell me how to grow this or any good supplements that could kick start the growth it would be great :) My rock looks kind of boring so I would loveto add some purple coloring to it :) thanks !
 

Sully

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And after that 6 months, you'll come back and ask "how do I get rid of all this coralline algae?" Careful what you ask for.
 

Pete polyp

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Lol.... Yep!

My asterina stars and chitons do a pretty good job at keeping the rock clean. The only coralline on my rock is the dark red velvet looking coralline. They don't touch that stuff
 

Sully

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Don't know if you ever looked through my tank thread Pete but Coralline really took off in my tank in the beginning. (and I never dosed anything to promote coralline growth) After it crashed and came back, I started adding some different things. I have a tuxedo urchin that has really knocked down my coralline to the point I'm contemplating taking it out, lol. I never get any growth on my glass anymore. I've always had a decent population of asterinas but they never put a dent in it like the urchin.
 

tyler1503

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Give your tank some time to balance out. Once it does go to a friend or the LFS and ask for some chips of their coralline. It can grow from just a small scraping :)
 

saltyphish

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Yup just use a piece of lr that has it on it and it will seed the dry rock for you. Also see a lot of snails bought from lfs with it on it and will serve the same purpose. I would save my money on the additives imo. Most products like purple up just increase your calcium so many times is a waste some people claim it helps but it will grow with out it.
 

revhtree

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Time and good water conditions! My newest tank just exploded with it after about 7 months or so.
 

Pete polyp

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Don't know if you ever looked through my tank thread Pete but Coralline really took off in my tank in the beginning. (and I never dosed anything to promote coralline growth) After it crashed and came back, I started adding some different things. I have a tuxedo urchin that has really knocked down my coralline to the point I'm contemplating taking it out, lol. I never get any growth on my glass anymore. I've always had a decent population of asterinas but they never put a dent in it like the urchin.

My glass has no problem growing the pink type, but the Ricks stay clear of it. I really like the clean rock look and the red velvet looking coralline is really nice also.
 

clownfitch

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The most effective way to kick start coralline algae growth is to take a small piece of rock that is covered with it, scrape it with a butter knife or something abrasive to make a coralline mushy dust and put the powdering mix in your tank along with the rock. Give it a couple of days and you will see speckles of the algae all over the place. Your local LFS or a nearby reefing buddy should have a small piece of coralline covered rubble to spare. Like a few have said though, be careful for what you ask for. If not scraped at least daily it can grow over any and everything and become a pain in the buttocks.
 

Ryan2428

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Remember one thing about coraline it eats up the nutrients you need for coral most of them so by this I mean more you have to add imo
 

Pete polyp

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good coralline growth is a sign of tank maturity. Yes you can seed it and all that, but until it's matured it's not going to just take off. This is why I said "time"
 

goodtimes

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I have had one tank setup for a year and a half and have zero coraline growth. Last month I setup a nano in the basement and I am already scraping it off the glass. Go figure.
 

clownfitch

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If the water chemistry is right and coralline is introduced it will take off. It knows no calender.
 

Pete polyp

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If the water chemistry is right and coralline is introduced it will take off. It knows no calender.

True, but it takes a while for a tank to become stable (usually) with the first several months having all kinds of crazy nutrient and phosphate issues. Once all that settles down is when coralline usually takes off.
 

Grizzle

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I have a 180 gallon tank that has been set up for over a year. I have some VERY healthy coraline growth on one area of the tank. Nothing I seem to do gets it to spread though. Scrapped rock with it on, Moved a piece to an area where there is none. Even grows well up under the cave its on. All the parameters are stable and have been for quite some time and right where I want them. Everything else is growing really well. SPS, LPS etc. The 120 gal I had previously had Coraline growing EVERYWHERE! Corals are doing better in this tank though so I would rather have that.
 

SantaMonica

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One thing that slip attention is why it takes 6 months or so for a tank to mature to get the coralline. The answer is periphyton:

Periphyton is what turns your rocks different colors. You know... the white rocks you started with in SW, or the grey rocks (or brown wood) you started with in FW. After several months or years, the rocks become a variety of different colors and textures. Why? Because the periphyton that has grown on it is a mix of different living things, of different colors, and thicknesses. And the important part is: It is LIVING.

That's right: The colored stuff that has coated your rocks is all living organisms. Sponges, microbes, algae, cyano, biofilms, and of course coralline. After all, "peri" means "around the outside", and "phyto" means "plant". Ever slipped in a slippery puddle? That's probably periphyton that made it slippery. It's a very thin coating on the rocks, sometimes paper thin.

There is a lot of photosynthetic organisms in periphyton, and this of course means that they need light; but they need nutrients too (ammonia, nitrate, phosphate). And as you might figure, they will be on the lighted portions of the rocks. And they will grow to intercept food particles in the water, based on the water flow. Just think about how sponges orient their holes for water flow; the micro sponges in periphyton do it too but on a tiny scale.

What about under the rocks, in the dark areas? Well these periphyton don't get light, so they are primarily filter feeders. So they REALLY grow and position themselves to be able to intercept food particles. And they don't really need to fight off algae, because algae does not grow in the dark, so they have no need for anti-algae tactics like plants in the light have.

Reef studies have show that at certain depths, more of the filtering of the water comes from periphyton and benthic algae than comes from the phytoplankton which filters the deeper water. And in streams, almost all the filtering is done by periphyton. So, what you have on rocks that are "mature" or "established" is a well-developed layer of periphyton; and all the things that comes from it.

This is why mandarin fish can eat directly off the rocks of an "established" tank (tons of pods grow in the periphyton), but not on the rocks of a new tank. Or why some animals can lay their eggs on established rocks, but not new ones. Or why established tanks seem to "yo-yo" less than new ones. Even tangs can eat periphyton directly when it's thick enough. Yes periphyton can also develop on the sand, but since the sand is moved around so much, the periphyton does not get visible like it does on rocks. So thick periphyton on established rocks is your friend. And totally natural too. Keep in mind though I'm not referring to nuisance algae on rocks; I'm only referring to the very-thin layer of coloring that coats the rocks.

But what happens when you "scrape the stuff off your rocks"? Well you remove some of the periphyton, which means you remove some of your natural filter and food producer. What if you take the rocks out and scrub them? Well now you not only remove more of your natural filter and food producer, but the air is going to kill even more of the microscopic sponges in it. And what if you bleach the rocks? Well, goodbye all filtering and food producing for another year. It's an instant reduction of the natural filtering that the periphyton was providing.

However, what if you just re-arrange the rocks? Well, some of the periphyton that was in the light, now will be in the dark; so this part will die. And some of the periphyton that was in the dark will now be in the light, so it will not be able to out-compete photosynthetic growth and thus will be covered and die too. And even if the light stays the same, the direction and amount of water flow (and food particles) will change; sponges that were oriented to get food particles from one direction will now starve. So since the light and food supply is cut off, the filtering that the periphyton was providing stops almost immediately from just re-arranging.

Starvation takes a little longer. The periphyton organisms won't die immediately, since they have some energy saved up; but instead, they will wither away over several weeks. So on top of the instant reduction in filtering that you get my just moving the rocks, you get a somewhat stretched-out period of nutrients going back into the water. And after all this, it takes another long period of time for the periphyton to build up to the levels it was at before. Even changing the direction of a powerhead will affect the food particle supply in the area it used to be pointed at.

So a good idea is to try to keep everything the same. Pick your lighting, flow, layout, and try to never move or change anything. It's a different way of thinking, but you should have a stronger natural filter and food producer because of it.
 

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