Coraline Algae Opinion

[Alex T.]

Just wondering what consensus is on having coraline algae totally overtake back and side panels. I had originally painted the back glass of my 150 sps with a dark blue paint, however the only blue that remains is the water line where I siphon 15 gallons of water out each week for water changes. I run the tank bare bottom, and like it on the bottom glass, but don't know if I would be fighting a losing battle by scraping it off the back and sides. My aquascape reaches half way up(by design) because I want my acropora colonies to fill in and reach the upper third of the tank before i start pruning them back.

Your thoughts?

[evoracer]

I personally let it have free reign on the back, but not the sides (view obstruction).

[connecticut cichlids]

+1 on the back only

[Sisterlimonpot]

I personally hate the way it looks on the glass, I prefer the clean look.

Plus coralline takes up precious alk and cal that was meant for coral growth.

[Greatwyte]

I prefer to scrape it off. Although I have been getting lazy and the back is getting built up a bit.

[username in use]

I scrape it once a month where I can get to it. I can still see some on the back glass in the reflection on the side glass, but cant get to it and it drives me a little nuts. Its definitely something I will plan better for when I get a bigger tank in a few years.

[spleify]

I have one tank that I let it grow in the back and one tank that I scrape it off the back. I like them both, but I think is I had the choice I would clean the back on both tanks. Never the sides, like mentioned, view obstruction

[frankpayne32]

I hate coraline, it ruins the illusion of depth a painted background creates, it consumes massive amount of alk/calcium, and IMO it can decrease the filtering capacity of live rock. I'm thinking about adding urchins to my current system to keep it in check naturally.

[smwreefgirl]

I"ve been noticing a lot of coraline algae on the back of my tank as well. Some of it is purple and some is green so guess not sure if it is all necessarily coraline as I thought coraline was supposed to be purple. But I can't get it to scrape off. Those of you who say you scrape yours off, what do you use to get it off the back???

[Sisterlimonpot]

I"ve been noticing a lot of coraline algae on the back of my tank as well. Some of it is purple and some is green so guess not sure if it is all necessarily coraline as I thought coraline was supposed to be purple. But I can't get it to scrape off. Those of you who say you scrape yours off, what do you use to get it off the back???
I use a plastic scraper on a telescoping rod (got it from petco). It works well and keeps your hands dry, I use to use an old credit card it worked great too but had to get my hands a little wet ;)

[smwreefgirl]

I use a plastic scraper on a telescoping rod (got it from petco). It works well and keeps your hands dry, I use to use an old credit card it worked great too but had to get my hands a little wet ;)

Thanks! I tried my scraper again and I guess I just needed to use a little extra "elbow grease" :-) I definitely scrubbed harder at it than I had before and it just started flaking right off. I really am liking the look of the cleaner backside. I love the coraline algae on the rocks but personally I like the look with the sides and back clear of it. Too bad I"m home sick today so I don't quite have the energy to keep going and get it all cleaned off, but at least I know it'll come off:-) yay!!!!

[Sisterlimonpot]

Thanks! I tried my scraper again and I guess I just needed to use a little extra "elbow grease" :-) I definitely scrubbed harder at it than I had before and it just started flaking right off. I really am liking the look of the cleaner backside. I love the coraline algae on the rocks but personally I like the look with the sides and back clear of it. Too bad I"m home sick today so I don't quite have the energy to keep going and get it all cleaned off, but at least I know it'll come off:-) yay!!!!
It'll be there when you get better,
it has gotten to be a routine for me, although I do let it go some times and I always regret it when I have to grease up the elbows. ;)

[mnml]

I keep them off all the walls. IMHO, I think it looks a lot cleaner. Great example is SunnyX's tank.

[TrojanScott]

I don't mind it being spotty. Back in the day, it meant you were doing things right. :)

[Lateralus]

Heres a good product for scraping coraline algae in action. This guy has some good vids. Pretty informative now new hobbyists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiypASQXoo0

[mltnguyen]

Personaly I only like to see it on the overflows, return pipes and the back wall. Now I have seen people have it around the edges and in some cases it looks slick however i think the tank needs to have enough to pull your attention into the tank and not the Coraline.