Coraline Questions?

Discussion in 'Algae' started by trying it again, Jan 30, 2006.

to remove this notice and enjoy 3reef content with less ads. 3reef membership is free.

  1. trying it again

    trying it again Fire Shrimp

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2006
    Messages:
    308
    Location:
    Monmouth County, New Jersey
    Hi, I picked up a small piece of LR with purple Coraline on it. The two questions are
    1- How tolerant are Coraline with water parameters?

    2- About how long will it take to spread?

    These are my water parameters as of today
    nitrate 40, nitrite 0, cal. 425, alkalinity 300, pH, 8.4 ammonia, .25 Temp 84 deg.F, S/G 1.022
    Thanks for your replies.
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2006
  2. Click Here!

  3. Jason McKenzie

    Jason McKenzie Super Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2003
    Messages:
    5,538
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC,Canada
    TRA, I take it you are just in the process of cycling your tank?

    I wouldn't worry about coraline at this point. It will appear to die off in a cycling tank. It will go white for awhile. Don't worry about it. I would concentrate on getting your SG up to around 1.026 and your temp down to 79-80. You Ammonia and Nitrate is still too high to start adding livestock but as for coraline on live rock, it will go white during the cycle and then take a few months to recover. From there in a healthy tank it should spread slowly over months and years. If it's like my tank. you will start to cures it as it grows everywhere, Glass, power heads, overflow.


    J
     
  4. fishflyer

    fishflyer Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2005
    Messages:
    90
    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    The better your water parameters are the faster it will spread.

    Coraline is a calcareous algae and takes more time to spread than all the nuisance algae. The game plan is to get as much coraline coverage on LR to prevent the nuisance algae from growing, but it takes so much time for the coraline to spread that many people my self included end up with lots of nuisance algae first. At one point my tank looked like a 1970's disco green shag carpet;D .

    Now that you have added coraline to your tank water parameters are the most important not only to help it spread as fast as possible, but to keep the bad algae from taking over!But it does take time.

    This is what I test for and try to maintain. Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, Cal. 400-450, Alk. 125, ph 8.3, ammonia 0, Phosphate 0, Iodide .03-.06, S/G 1.023 skimming and lighting are also very important.

    Any criticism on my chemistry would be appreciated.
    Good luck :)
     
  5. kb.bear

    kb.bear Peppermint Shrimp

    Joined:
    May 17, 2005
    Messages:
    414
    Location:
    Riverside, RI
    SG of a reef should be 1.026
     
  6. rickzter

    rickzter Torch Coral

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2005
    Messages:
    1,197
    Nitrate 0
    Nitrite 0
    Ammonia 0
    Phosphate 0
    Ca 425-450
    pH 8.3
    Temp 76-80
    SG 1.024-1.026 for reef or 1.022-1.024 for FOWLR

    Like fish said, this is what you are trying to aim at. Monitor alk as well. I really need to get a better test for it. :-/
     
  7. fishflyer

    fishflyer Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2005
    Messages:
    90
    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    SG 1.026 for reef. Im doing a water change today so I will start to bring it up.
    Thanks yall.
     
  8. Click Here!

  9. coral reefer

    coral reefer Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2006
    Messages:
    4,860
    Location:
    Wonderland
    For corraline algae to grow and spread, you should have a high level of calcium, good lighting and strong water flow. A product called Purple Up at local fish stores is good to help grow corraline algae(purple,green and pink color). Once established it will spread pretty fast. I have corraline algae that is laminar in shape like a thin flat plate (montipora and leptosiris).
     
  10. NUGIO

    NUGIO Corkscrew Tentacle Anemone

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2003
    Messages:
    734
    Location:
    MO VAL, CA
    so do I it looks very cool faning out from the LR
     
  11. coral reefer

    coral reefer Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2006
    Messages:
    4,860
    Location:
    Wonderland
    yes very cool. Deep red color with pink spots and pink edges.
     
  12. Diver_1298

    Diver_1298 Eyelash Blennie

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2004
    Messages:
    1,268
    Location:
    Lakeland, Fl
    Lighting? It grows better in some lighting environments than others. It is not a big fan of intense halide lighting when it first gets started. I had better luck growing it in my sump with a fluorescent grow light than in my main tank with halides.
    But, for each aquarium it's different. :tongue4:
    Enjoy.

    Jim