Coralline algae growth

[Aco5000]

Hi there, so I seem to only grow coralline algae on my pumps, really none on the glass or rockwork, tank is 3 yrs old currently houses mainly softies and a few lps, parameters are 8.1dkh, 6ppm no3, 1305ppm mag, 400ppm ca, and .043 po4, what do you guys think is going on? Thanks in advance!

 

[stevewright1]

Hi Aco5000
my experience has been similar in previous set ups , Coralline Algae seems to favor plastic over other surfaces
if it never grew on the glass , I would be happy LOL
for getting it to grow on rock etc best thing I found was to scrape the Coralline off the pumps regularly and the coralline particles will hopefully settle on some rockwork and you will start to see it spread thereafter

naturally, the less other algae you have growing on the rockwork the better your chances of success and the more clear rock areas you have = more coralline habitat.

 

[Phycodurus]

very peculiar ... where are the pumps located?

how often to you clean the pumps for coralline algae build-up? and do you do it outside of the tank? (i.e. a bucket, the sink).

may want to take a small stiff brush to the pumps in situ next time they need cleaning ... i can only think this will help spread the coralline algae around the tank. HTH.

 

[Phycodurus]

aha, i’m on the same wavelength as steve lol

 

[jda]

You need to get your no3 down if you want coralline algae to grow like crazy. Be careful what you wish for since it really does become a nuisance, but calcification is inhibited the more that nitrate and phosphorous elevate and you are at a level about 60x more than natural seawater.

I would not use any chemicals or anything, but perhaps grow some chaeto until it gets down to 1 ppm, or just below. 6 ppm is not awful and most corals will not even notice, but the coralline will, so you might have to make a choice.

 

[Goodair]

do the coralline products work?

 

[Aco5000]

One on each side of the tank, typical ecotech placement, and I do clean them outside the tank, I'll start scraping them inside the tank and see if that helps spread it, thanks for the input, I appreciate it!