getting coralline started

[skiergd011013]

my 55 gallon reef is brand spankin new. i got 50 lbs of dry base rock comming that i will use to build up my reef. my lfs has vanuatu rock that is absolutley covered in purple coralline algae. even if my tank is new it is ok to introduce this algae into my tank right? i want to take a rasor blade and scrape it into my water and leave the rock in there to start coralline growth in my tank. i just really like coralline and dont want to wait a long time for it to come on its own.

[Elegance Coral]

Just pick up several small rocks from the LFS. Place them in different areas of the tank and make sure your parameters are in check. You could cook the base rocks or give them an acid bath to speed the process along if you like.

[Seamore]

You can get multiple peices of rock with different color varieties of coraline, so you can have multiple colors in there. Keep the perams good with Ca in the 400mg/L range.

[skiergd011013]

ok i will go ahead and introduce it A.S.A.P. i plant to keep up with regular water changes to keep the water good. i use instant ocean. the salt mix has the trace minerals in it that corals and coralline need to live right? when i am ready i can get calcium supplement to aid the coralline but i want to get through the cycle process first. the coralline will do ok right?

[Salty O'Shen]

Originally Posted by skiergd011013

ok i will go ahead and introduce it A.S.A.P. i plant to keep up with regular water changes to keep the water good. i use instant ocean. the salt mix has the trace minerals in it that corals and coralline need to live right? yes, regular water changes will keep up with your mineral needs until you have a lot of corals/clams/inverts that are using them up faster than water changes replenish

when i am ready i can get calcium supplement to aid the coralline but i want to get through the cycle process first. the coralline will do ok right? you won't likely need a calcium supplement for the coraline, the things tto focus on that will give you problems with growing coralline early on with a new tank are nitrates & phosphate

also, when i wanted to jump start my coralline i took the coralline that was growing on the rock and scraped it off a little and that helps get some more of it in the water column....HTH

[fchidsey]

Patence it will come.

[Brocnizer]

I would say in 3 months you will start to see it on your new rock. Little spots here and there.

Then it takes off at about the one year mark. Thats when the tank starts to stabilize. Thats what happened to me atleast.