| General Reef Discussion In this forum we discuss issues related to keeping marine and reef aquariums in a friendly flame-free environment. |
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01-28-2002, 04:58 PM
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#1
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Big Fishy
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 711
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Coralline Algae Growth
How long did it take for Corraline algae to start growing on the glass and powerheads that I see in most of ya'lls pics? I was just wondering cuz I would think that it's one of the signs of a healthy tank and I don't have any yet...except for what has been on the LR since I got them.
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Last edited by Allyson; 01-28-2002 at 05:16 PM.
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01-28-2002, 05:14 PM
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#2
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reefer
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 1,650
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It took my 45 gal tank about 10 months, but I haven't been dosing Ca recently so it has stopped. In my 90 gal I don't know if it will ever grow because of how bright my MH's are.
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01-28-2002, 05:30 PM
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Azle, Tx
Posts: 1,544
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I don't have much growth either after a year. I think it is also because of the bright VHOs on the tank. I think coraline does best under dimmer lighting. It only seems to grow well in the slightly shaded areas and behind the LR. I do dose lime water on a bi-weekly basis. I would love to coralline growing faster in hopes of choking out the hair algae. I'm thinking of adding one more actinic to my 4 bulb fixture to make 3 actinic/1 daylight, but, have to come up with the $$ first. |
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01-28-2002, 05:39 PM
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#4
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New light hood builder
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Northern California
Posts: 168
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Mine started growing after six months. I have PC, vho and Metal halide lights. There are different kinds of coraline algae, some like dimmer areas and some dont. I have it growing everywhere. What really made the difference was a high DKH and Calcium. When I started adding suppliments to bring them up higher is when it really took off. |
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01-28-2002, 08:27 PM
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#5
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sandman
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Dallas Area
Posts: 492
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i've seen a TREMENDOUS increase in coralline growth recently. the tank has been up for about 8 months and a couple of months ago, i started keeping my calcium around 450 ppm(as opposed to 400). also, my dKh is always between 10-12. what really helped me was upgrading my powerheads to the next bigger size. the current in the tank really increased and it seemed like the amount of green and purple coralline doubled almost overnight! just remember the three most important things for good coralline growth: 1) adequate calcium 2) high alkalinity and 3) good water movement. IME, you won't have as good of growth if you are missing even ONE of those factors. hope this helps  |
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01-28-2002, 09:13 PM
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#6
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A goof
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Plymouth, MN USA
Posts: 2,923
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We have been lucky with our tank. In 5 months our tank has just about the whole back glass covered with coraline  I think it is because our source water is VERY high in ALK which allows easy calcium supplement.
Jon
Drew, do you have well water? if so test it and see what your alk is.
Jon
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01-28-2002, 09:14 PM
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#7
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Reefer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: California
Posts: 468
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My 100g is now about 5 months old, I have small patches of coralline algae growing on the glass, powerheads, LR, snails, hermits, etc. IT is everywere. I have a good amount of current, VHO, and MH totaling 6.8 watt per gallons, and try to keep my ca around 450ppm. Just my personal exp. ;-)
HTH |
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01-28-2002, 11:58 PM
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#8
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Little Fishy
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: chicago
Posts: 83
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my tank has been up for 2 years and i did not any growth until i my lfs scrape some off their glass and i seeded my tank with it and i have only been useing instant ocean salt mix which i didn't use before . its coming along nice now for me . |
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01-29-2002, 12:22 AM
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#9
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Keeper of the Peach
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: I live in a Giant Peach
Posts: 192
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If you drip kalk that can help the coralline grow some faster, also an urchin grazing on what you have on the rocks will boost the spread too. If you can, get a scraping from a friends tank to seed the water. |
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01-29-2002, 12:41 AM
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#10
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Little Fishy
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Posts: 115
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It took about 6 mon. for mine, however I
don't like it, I wish it would stay where it
belongs.
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01-29-2002, 01:38 AM
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#11
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Green Hater
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: London, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 70
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be carefull what you wish for cleaning this stuff is INSANE! I remember for the first few months I could clean the tank with a sponge... now i need a flat razor... and it grows like a weed!! I got an urchin to eat the stuff off the back because i couldn't even get it off with the razor!
I dosed b-ionic till my calc part was gone ... I still have the full bottle of alk.... that's when it started to grow...
i then moved over to kalk... and oh man.. like 2 days i noticed... within a week it had exploded... and kept going ever since... i try to scrape weekly....it's also neat to see the trail of the urchin on the back wall... I'm not sure what it does for the tank, but it does add a nice splash of colour
Hope That Helps
oh p.s. I'm running 2 55w pc's, 2 30 watts actinics, and a 250 W 10K MH |
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