Question about coralline

[tracyclifton]

As I was just looking at my tank and all the coralline that is growing a thought came to mind. Does the coralline have a positive effect on high nitrates and phosphates like the chaeto in the fuge? I have no idea, but logic would tell me that if algae lives on nitrate and phosphate, then shouldn't the same apply to coralline? Or, am I way off?

[Allmost]

good thinking :)

algae takes up N and P to grow ... coraline is an algae so it does the same.

in ULNS [ultra low nutritions] tanks, you get less coraline growth.

now coraline, contains alot more carbonate and calcium and strontinum and magnesium and so on than it contains No3 and po4, so its not that effective of a way for nutrition removal as cheato and other leafy algae are. you will remove alot more calcium than removing no3 for example :)

Hth :)

[azjohnny]

No but coralline wont grow unless you have good water conditions

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[Allmost]

No but coralline wont grow unless you have good water conditions

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no to what ? and why wouldnt it ?

except in case where you have po4 more than 0.5 PPM in which case calcification stops, in all other cases, it will grow at a different speed :)

[krzyphsygy]

Great Topic!! I was just thinking of something similar....my tank is 4 months old and I used Marco Rocks, but I have zero coraline growth and its starting to worry me. There is three rocks in the tank that have coraline on them but they are not in direct light.
My Phos is Zero and Nitrates are zero and it def low nutrient due to my H&S skimmer, so how do I grow coraline then??

I am getting desperate.

[Palting]

Coralline requires the same environment as true calcareous coral: appropriate levels of calcium, magnesium, alk, and other minerals. What it also requires are low levels of nitrate and phosphate. So..... the answer is NO. :) Although coralline is an algae, it does not consume nitrate nor phosphate in the same manner as macro algae, and unlike macroalgae like caulerpa and chaeto, coraline wil not thrive in a high nitrate high phosphate environment. Coralline is a good warning system. Bad water with high nitrate/phosphate and poor cal/mag/alk = coralline will disappear and GHA and other nuisance algae will instead propagate.

Sources, public ones that can easily be checked:
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f14/coralline-algae-60375/
http://www.ask.com/wiki/Coralline_algae

[simpp88]

For algae to consume N and P at a good rate it has to have relatively fast growth like chaeto. Coraline on the other hand grows rather slow and grows better in low N and P environments, so logically it would have little to do with bringing down N and P for you.

[azjohnny]

Coralline also likes lower light levels and hates white light

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[trinidiver]

Great Topic!! I was just thinking of something similar....my tank is 4 months old and I used Marco Rocks, but I have zero coraline growth and its starting to worry me. There is three rocks in the tank that have coraline on them but they are not in direct light.
My Phos is Zero and Nitrates are zero and it def low nutrient due to my H&S skimmer, so how do I grow coraline then??

I am getting desperate.


Do you have a Cal & Alk test kit to test? Thats the first thing you should get.
Your Cal should be between 420-460 and Alk about 9.0-12.0

[krzyphsygy]

Do you have a Cal & Alk test kit to test? Thats the first thing you should get.
Your Cal should be between 420-460 and Alk about 9.0-12.0

Cal 425 and DKH 7.5, been stable for about 4 months now.

[azjohnny]

Great Topic!! I was just thinking of something similar....my tank is 4 months old and I used Marco Rocks, but I have zero coraline growth and its starting to worry me. There is three rocks in the tank that have coraline on them but they are not in direct light.
My Phos is Zero and Nitrates are zero and it def low nutrient due to my H&S skimmer, so how do I grow coraline then??

I am getting desperate.

since you started with dead rock it probably will take longer, maybe 6-12 months. With my FOWLR it was about 2 months, but I started my tank with cured Fiji Tukani rock.

What do you have for circulation in your tank?, that is critical. Coralline is a spore and the more flow you have the better chance you have of spreading the seed

[tracyclifton]

Great Topic!! I was just thinking of something similar....my tank is 4 months old and I used Marco Rocks, but I have zero coraline growth and its starting to worry me. There is three rocks in the tank that have coraline on them but they are not in direct light.
My Phos is Zero and Nitrates are zero and it def low nutrient due to my H&S skimmer, so how do I grow coraline then??

I am getting desperate.

I started with a used tank and a little coralline survived on my rocks. To help it along I bought one piece of rock at my lfs covered in coralline. They have one tank with coralline rocks only for $9.95 per pound. That rock seems to have jumpstarted my growth.