Coralline Algae

[butchik]

My tank has finished cycling 3 weeks ago. Everything looks good and the parameters, as far as I have been testing them, are good. My calcium is at 420 and Alkalinity is at 8dKH. Question is, when should I be expecting to see Coralline Algae? Thanks.

BTW, my tank specs are: 40 gal, 15 gal sump (with a refugium section with chaeto), T5 lighting (4X39), GFO/Carbon Reactor, 45 lbs of live rock, 1.5 inches of Aragonite sand.

[reeftanknewbie]

depends on your lighting, if you have rock or something to seed the coralline algae with, and of course very little algae problems as they can grow on the coralline and smother it. This is a great link to get started.

http://www.garf.org/coralline.html

[SleepyJ]

If you have your lights on, the coralline should be showing up any time. If you don't get anything in a while, a couple of snails with coralline on their shells will seed the tank.

[butchik]

Thanks. I didn't know I had to introduce coralline algae in the tank. I thought they were like the nuisance algae normally just pops out because of high water nutrients.

[Chris27]

Was the rock live when you introduced it? If so, you should already have some coraline, once the chemistry settles out, it will start growing out of control.

[travis32]

The rock I purchased from another tank had some coraline on it and in the last month has really had some growth spurts. Some rocks I got from a different source didn't have as much and it hasn't spread to them yet, but the rocks it was on, has really gotten brighter in color and seems to have really cheered up the tank with nice bright and light purples!

Once seeded, if the conditions are right, it seems like it should take off. I didn't do anything special for the coraline I have to grow.

[butchik]

Was the rock live when you introduced it? If so, you should already have some coraline, once the chemistry settles out, it will start growing out of control.

Chris,

No, it was dead rock but I've purchased a couple of frags/corals that have it. I'm hoping it spreads.

[Chris27]

Chris,

No, it was dead rock but I've purchased a couple of frags/corals that have it. I'm hoping it spreads.

It'll spread eventually - you can speed it along if you add a couple of larger mature pieces from different tanks though. Be patient, I assure you that when it does start growing well you'll wish you never had it in the first place :rollface:

Good Luck.

[returnofsid]

Yes, you have to seed it, just as nuisance algaes need to be seeded. If there isn't any present in the tank, none will grow. However, it sounds like you have "seeded" it, with rock that already had existing coralline. Rates of growth will vary, due to a lot of different parameters. Your Calcium and Alk are at good levels to promote it's growth. I've had tanks where it grew so fast, I was scraping the glass every other day. I've had other tanks, with the same parameters, where it hardly grew at all, in 4 years. Other tank inhabitants, and their intake of Calcium, Alk and Magnesium, will also effect Coralline growth. In other words, if you have lots of stony corals, that are using the Ca, Alk and Mg, there will be less available for Coralline growth.