Coralline algae question from a beginner

[DEE’S reef]

I have 2 ai hydra 32

 

[BonnieB]

So this is what my tanks aqua scape looks like I was thinking the arches maybe a montipora.
But let me know and let me know the best place for zoa’s.

With much respect, I would take a lot of that rock out I think you need to allow for more free space, plus shelves, coves, and ledges for coral to grow, and fish to feel at home

^ this. And to add to it. There’s too much shaded area and not enough area for good flow throughout. To answer your question, zoas adapt well to most locations but do best on the middle to lower part of the tank, in full light for those areas (not the highest light you have) and medium indirect flow to help keep the areas in between the polyps from accumulating detritus and growing algae.

 

[DEE’S reef]

The picture had only one light because I had it sent to get fixed now I have to functioning lights tomorrow I’ll take pictures of the tank with its lights on.

 

[DEE’S reef]

My phosphate tested at 0.1

 

[Impunitus]

My phosphate tested at 0.1

Good level! Assuming you are maintaining around there and no sharp swings this is good for starter corals.

Again, you are going to get A LOT of different opinions on phosphate levels. My tank floats between 0.15-0.2 which some that keep ultra low levels would call insanely high. As long as your corals and fish are happy, you are in a good spot.

 

[DEE’S reef]

Ok the question is if I get coral now should I keep them on a frag rack for a little while then add them on the rock or do I just attach them to rock?
My thought is with the frag rack it should keep the coral away from the changing rock algae and other stuff.

 

[DEE’S reef]

Quick question for you guys I have some frag racks I wasn’t given and they have coralline algae on them should I scrape some off and add to the tank?

 

[DEE’S reef]

What the best parameters for coralline algae growth and appearance of corraline algae?

 

[Impunitus]

Scraping the coralline into your tank is what some people do to help seed spores. I personally did not do that and just let the spores from live rock I placed and from frag plugs do their thing.

I am personally a fan of starting on a frag rack or in the sandbed for a little bit before placing permenantly into my rock. This lets me acclimate the coral to my light by starting lower and moving it up and also let's me see if certain corals are responding to flow in different parts of the tank better.

As for "preferred parameters" for growing coralline...

Reefing is something that takes time. Trust me when I say I was where you are now a few months ago. I was honestly getting a little disheartened by the lack of coralline in my tank given I had live rock and also used the bottle that was linked by Fish Fan. Now it's really starting to kick off on my Powerheads, returns and growing on my dry rock. There is no real shortcut to this. Patience is a very powerful thing and there are no real shortcuts to this as it's a part of tank maturity.

Your current parameters are good. But do not chase numbers. You want stability of your parameters as that is what will promote the growth of coralline as well as corals that you place in your tank.

One thing I will say is it really does seem like your tank is very new. You may have shared this already, but how old is your tank? The lack of ANY algae and your rock still being white tells me it is pretty new. I'd expect you to see hard green algae all over your rocks before coralline comes in. As others have mentioned, at least 2-3 months but probably more like 4-6 without a decent amount of live rock to see decent amounts of coralline growth.

 

[DEE’S reef]

It’s about a month old but it has green algae on it.

 

[DEE’S reef]

Here the pictures of the algae

 

[Impunitus]

Here the pictures of the algae

You have a lot more green algae in store before you start seeing coralline. Its all part of the process, but easily another few months. Give it time, expect to see a lot of uglies starting too.

I recently started to get a bubble algae problem, but my hard green coating on my rocks is starting to die off as coralline comes in.

Nice clown :) Have a pair or just the one?

 

[DEE’S reef]

You have a lot more green algae in store before you start seeing coralline. Its all part of the process, but easily another few months. Give it time, expect to see a lot of uglies starting too.

I recently started to get a bubble algae problem, but my hard green coating on my rocks is starting to die off as coralline comes in.

Nice clown :) Have a pair or just the one?

So I have one in the tank right now and one in quarantine tank right now.