Barebottoms and Corraline / Algae.

[Kinetic]

Do you guys leave your barebottoms to algae and corraline to take over? Are there those who clean it regularily?

I personally don't like the look of corraline on anything but rocks. of course most people hate micro algae as well.

How do you keep yours clean? Just use a scraper around the open areas of the rock?

I was thinking of this:
I'm going to be putting all my rockwork together via dry rock from reeferrocks and epoxy to make one solid piece. My tank is braceless/trimless so I can put the whole structure in in one piece, or two pieces in the case of an island. Every month or so, I'll prep a bucket, and remove the entire rockwork in one piece, clean up the tank, and put it back in. (this is assuming I can lift the 80lbs+ of rock and livestock and trapped water =P

Would the above put too much stress on the tank/livestock?

[Aqua Keepers]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=8491179#post8491179

I pretty much asked this same Q in the link above. Looks like a scraper is our best bet.. I think pulling everything out to scrape is a bad idea it'll be too much stress. I've heard that there are additives that help prevent it's growth, but have yet to confirm that.

[dippin61]

i just used black starboard.. dont really notice the corraline on teh bottom anymore.

[rutz81]

I recently got a pincushion and tuxedo urchin. They are helping to cut down on it, there is still a lot.

[Serioussnaps]

The only thing that gets on my bottom if fish poop. Coralline is barely growing on the bottom....i thought it would cover it but it doesnt.

i dont let algae grow on any dang thing...i dont hvae to scrape though as it just doesnt grow..if you see my specs you will know why

i siphon alot of the poop out once a week......i siphon it out...let it settle to the bottom of the bucket then drain water back out into sump(the clean water) and siphon more poop till i have a pile at the bottom of the bucket

however, i may stop siphoning out hte poop weekly and start blowing it around daily with a turkey baster to feed the corals....if this shows all good effects i may stick with this and just siphon poop out every 2 or 3 weeks

besides the siphoning i dont have to scrape....overskimmed, low bioload, weekly wcs and gfo keep algae from growing, for some reason i am not getting good coralline growth(i think this is due to ALK of 8-9)

I wouldnt do that...i think that is too fanatical about cleaning, just do small weekly wc's like you would on any other tank. That is just doing too much and yes over time it may stress your corals, not exactly a science to that idea though.

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8496441#post8496441 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Serioussnaps
The only thing that gets on my bottom if fish poop. Coralline is barely growing on the bottom....i thought it would cover it but it doesnt.

i dont let algae grow on any dang thing...i dont hvae to scrape though as it just doesnt grow..if you see my specs you will know why

i siphon alot of the poop out once a week......i siphon it out...let it settle to the bottom of the bucket then drain water back out into sump(the clean water) and siphon more poop till i have a pile at the bottom of the bucket

however, i may stop siphoning out hte poop weekly and start blowing it around daily with a turkey baster to feed the corals....if this shows all good effects i may stick with this and just siphon poop out every 2 or 3 weeks

besides the siphoning i dont have to scrape....overskimmed, low bioload, weekly wcs and gfo keep algae from growing, for some reason i am not getting good coralline growth(i think this is due to ALK of 8-9)

I wouldnt do that...i think that is too fanatical about cleaning, just do small weekly wc's like you would on any other tank. That is just doing too much and yes over time it may stress your corals, not exactly a science to that idea though.

huh? this thread's about corraline not really about fish poop =) but pat on the back for a great tank!

[rutz81]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8496441#post8496441 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Serioussnaps
The only thing that gets on my bottom if fish poop. Coralline is barely growing on the bottom....i thought it would cover it but it doesnt.

i dont let algae grow on any dang thing...i dont hvae to scrape though as it just doesnt grow..if you see my specs you will know why

i siphon alot of the poop out once a week......i siphon it out...let it settle to the bottom of the bucket then drain water back out into sump(the clean water) and siphon more poop till i have a pile at the bottom of the bucket

however, i may stop siphoning out hte poop weekly and start blowing it around daily with a turkey baster to feed the corals....if this shows all good effects i may stick with this and just siphon poop out every 2 or 3 weeks

besides the siphoning i dont have to scrape....overskimmed, low bioload, weekly wcs and gfo keep algae from growing, for some reason i am not getting good coralline growth(i think this is due to ALK of 8-9)

I wouldnt do that...i think that is too fanatical about cleaning, just do small weekly wc's like you would on any other tank. That is just doing too much and yes over time it may stress your corals, not exactly a science to that idea though.
How long has your tank been running? I didn't have corraline at all really until about 10 months in, then all of a sudden I had it all over. I don't think siphoning plays a role at all in corraline growth.

[REEF-DADDY]

My bottom is 200 different shades of pink and purple. I wish there was some easy way to keep it clean, but that a chore I am just not willing to add to my list.

[Aqua Keepers]

I have'nt done a tone of reading on it but I have read that corralines growth can be related to ALK, CA, or lighting. So, I'd be interested in seeing these specs on tanks that are'nt getting alot of corraline growth.

[slojmn]

I have coralline growing on the bottom in patches and like it. I also think it will eventually help my clownfish to relax a bit...she spends a fair amount of time fighting her reflection in the barebottom. The male does not pay any attention to his reflection just the female. Wacky fish :). I wish it would hurry up and cover the whole bottom, at this point it is about 1/3 covered in patches all over.

[Lobster]

It seems impossible to scrape the coralline off my starboard, I gave up. When I setup my large tank, I wont bother with the starboard. I think it just traps detritus underneath and either with or without it I will be staring at a purple floor after six months or so. :D

[rutz81]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8497027#post8497027 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lobster
It seems impossible to scrape the coralline off my starboard, I gave up. When I setup my large tank, I wont bother with the starboard. I think it just traps detritus underneath and either with or without it

Mine does the same thing.

[REEF-DADDY]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8497027#post8497027 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lobster
It seems impossible to scrape the coralline off my starboard, I gave up. When I setup my large tank, I wont bother with the starboard. I think it just traps detritus underneath and either with or without it I will be staring at a purple floor after six months or so. :D

Amen to that!

[Aqua Keepers]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8497027#post8497027 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lobster
It seems impossible to scrape the coralline off my starboard, I gave up. When I setup my large tank, I wont bother with the starboard. I think it just traps detritus underneath and either with or without it I will be staring at a purple floor after six months or so. :D

Silicone around the edges. No it does'nt hold the SB down, but does keep poop from getting past.

[REEF-DADDY]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8497199#post8497199 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pito
Silicone around the edges. No it does'nt hold the SB down, but does keep poop from getting past.

Still gets in there, I used so much silicone my whole house stunk!

[Aqua Keepers]

If you silicone around the edges so that the silicone is flush with the top of the SB than the above statement would be impossable.

[REEF-DADDY]

Looks impossible but tell that to all the pods that live in there!

[Aqua Keepers]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8499959#post8499959 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by REEF-DADDY
Looks impossible but tell that to all the pods that live in there!

I'm not sure you're getting what I'm saying. I've done it before and water does'nt even get under the SB. I'll try to draw something up as I know I can't explain things for ^%$*

[Aqua Keepers]

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r276/rlugo29/SBoard.jpg

[REEF-DADDY]

Yup looks like my tank, I've got pods under there. I am not even sure how they got in the silicone looks perfect.

[Aqua Keepers]

Are you getting detritus underneath?

[speckled trout]

Looks good to me. IMO, coralline algae helps add color, especially on the back and bottom of the tank. However, beauty is subjective so do what makes you happy. Nice tank-Mike

[Kinetic]

my 14 month old tank right now has algae all over the back wall (short sand bed so nothing on the bottom), and it looks kinda gross. I scraped off tons of algae off the back wall, and it being black, makes the tank look bigger and less moldy =P

I have a mix of green, red, pink, and dark purple corraline, it makes the tank look dirty rather than colorful =/ the rocks, however, look fantastic with the different coralline colors.

[greenfroggiespawn]

How do you gusy position powerheads in a barebottom?

I have a 90 an currently a tunze but I want to pump a bit more to stire things around.