coraline growth and lighting experiment.

very well shown.

 

According to this website tuxedo urchins feed on coraline...

Animal Library: Invertebrates: Echinoderms: Urchins: Blue Tuxedo Urchin

 

Do you have a power head on both sides?

 

Yes urchins do feed on Coraline

 

On my tank I have little if any coralline on the rocks.... Its weird as my 75 with PCs had coraline everywhere and I needed to literally scrap the front pane every 2-3 days or the dime size pink spots would cover my glass.
In my new tank with the 80w T5s, the coralline grows, in rock crevices and underneath rocks.
The back glass is covered but in the 5' that my lamps reach the coraline is a very light pink/white whereas the 6" on each side of the back where the lamps end is a nice purple/pink coralline.
Same goes with the sides, since the bulb ends a half foot before the sides the coralline is crazy there as well... Its rather odd to me.
BUT just like the rocks I see that come in straight from Bali and Pohnpei, only one side has coralline or it is in small blotches.

I know that my PAR levels are retarding the growth as I have seen FAR higher levels but its odd that I get far more growth in the shadows...

 

no power head at the time of pics shown but there was a 900 gph pump that y ed in both directions of tank so equal flow was given

 

you dont happen to have another halide bulb lying around do you? , the 15k the odds come with are horrible.
but thinks for the test.

 

Way to go this is how I found out also many yrs ago , And why I tell all who would listen that at new tank start up simply seed it and use no light for a month then only actinics for 2 months and no skimmer for 3 months or so after stocking is started and no strong water currents for the first 3 months before stocking is started during the cycle as all of the above will only hinder the start of coralline gorwth , I have never had any issues with it . Now you no K's to you

 

I agrre with most of what Tangster said. I noticed more coraline growth in shaded areas first. I had alot of purple and pinks and now I have ALOT of red but also green and grey. I can say I haven't seen any blue though. BUT what I have found is it will most definitly adhear to plastic/ PVCs first and IT LOVES HIGH FLOW!!!! It started in shady spots, then popped up where the flow was at then with heads blowing every where, it is every where.
I had Metal Halides running all day and had the pinks and purples and got more red, green and grey with the T5s running most of the day now.

 

My tile that I put in for my clowns to lay eggs on was completely encrusted with green coralline algae when it was under the T5 side of my tank. I have moved it over to the 70W 14000K HQI side and ALL of the coralline has bleached off the tile now. My T5 (48W of 420 and 460 actinics) side is now showing color shift in the coralline. It is now changing from green to pink and purple.