Coralline growth!!

[bmshehan]

Originally Posted by gazog

Watch the lighting though, I have found that if you change the amount of light or type of light it tends to either bleach the algae (it turns light pink or white) or it kills it ought right.

I went from a 80 watt PC light on my 16 gallon Nano, with which I had great Coraline growth to a 96 watt T5 light and most of the algae bleached. After a little while it started growing back but no where near a nice and fast. I have since gone back to the PC light on that tank and its now growing great.

My lighting plan: Get lights set up by next weekend. Let actinics run about 16 hours a day for several weeks. Then slowly phase in 2 250W Metal Halides, probably starting with a couple hours a day, then adding an hour of light every day or so. I think slow will be the key, I will play with it.
Remember, my tank is only a little over 10 weeks old, and I have yet to turn a light on. Livestock includes 2 clowns, 1 hitchhiker snail & 1 turbo snail. Hopefully a slow phase in and no added livestock till the lights are running full bore will help everything out.

[Marty]

Originally Posted by bmshehan

Woohooo!!!! Just noticed last week that some very small specs of red coralline were starting to show up on the cured base rock I put in there... then today BOOM red coralline popping up everywhere!! Can't wait to get my actinics up and running to give them a big boost!!
Tried to take some pics but they didn't turn out good at all

Congrats! I've got purple, white and red exploding in mine right now. It's a good feeling seeing your tank come to life. :O)

Get some pics when you can, I would love to see your growth.