coraline algae
 

So how long does it take to grow on all the LR and what is it's may source or requirerment to grow?

Also i have just some sugar sand in my refug not LS so what is best to seed it other than getting a cup from someone else?

coraline can take a few months to get going. it doesnt like very bright lights so it does well under pc lighting. it also seems to like kalk so it helps if you drip, or have a reactor or something. you will first see it starting on plastic stuff like powerheads and overflow boxes.

if you don't know anyone with some sand you can seed it with a few chunks of some live rock and add some cheato or other macro and you should be good to go. getting a cup or 2 of someone elses sand is the best though.

You want to keep your Ca and alk up, and make sure magnesium levels are adequate. Coralline also seems to grow well in areas of higher flow.

Coraline
 

Once you get a buildup, try pointing a powerhead at it. This will help distribute the coraline throughout the rest of the tank.

Get lots of snails and powerheads... That's all I seem to be able to grow it on. :P

A trick to growing corraline is to scrap it off the powerheads with the side of a razor or something. The "dust" will seed the rest of te take quite quickly.

dang i didnt know that! cool :mrgreen:

I used to scrape it off the glass too when it first started, now it's growing like a weed..I have to "prune" it or else it'll take over!

I use IO salt, tap water, seachem reef builder, reef complete, and reef calcium. :)

couple things I don't quite agree with in this. Coraline will start right away if there is some in the tank to start and the conditions are right. as for Bright lights, it likes them fine but you will get different colors. I have MH lighting and the Coraline is going nuts so this dim light thing is a wife's tail. what I did notice that you get lighter shades in the brighter lights. So when I upgraded my lighting all my dark purple Coraline turned to a mauve and my red Coraline turned pink.. ect.. Adding Kalk might be good or it might be a waist. monitor your levels and keep you Ca around 400 and your Alk between 8 and 12 and PH normal and it will grow.

Steve

It's also a wive's tale.

bah one or two whats the difference :mrgreen:

Steve

im not saying it won't grow under mh lighting only it grows better under softer lights. well that's been my experience anyway, even the rock at the bottom of my tank was more encrusted than the stuff closer to the lights. steve it sounds like your colours are fading on your coralline, how long has it been since you upgraded your lights?

I have been running MH for almost 3 years now and I do regularly change the bulbs. the coralline algae is not faded at all, and it has been steady like this for the last 3 years. in other words, the growth rate is constant and the colors are consistent at what I see in other tanks that are very brightly light.

Just for info there are several different colors of coralline, some colors are dominant in dim tanks like VHO and PC lighting, and others are dominant in brightly lit tanks. Mine hasn't faded at all, in fact there was no coralline of the rocks or bottom of the tank be for so this color is all new growth and not faded old growth.

now since coralline is a calcareous algae, and algae is susceptible to light as a coral is it makes since that the colors of it will be different with different lighting.

here is some more requirements for different coralline genera.

high light/current you will have Lithophyllum, Porolithon, and Titanoderma as dominant coralline

medium light/flow you will have Hydrolithon, Mesophyllum, and Sporolithon as dominant coralline

and in low light/ medium flow you will have Peyssonnelia as dominant coralline

each one of these has there own colors. for example Peyssonnelia is usually the darker red plating coralline you see in some tanks, where Porolithon is more of a lighter purple almost pink.


Steve

i guess i assumed that when you said "So when I upgraded my lighting all my dark purple Coraline turned to a mauve and my red Coraline turned pink.." that ment fading, pink is a faded version of red. im just going by what you said.