coralline algae mystery

I have a 30 gallon reef/frag tank setup that is 1 year 2 months old. I have a 165 w blue/white led fixture over the tank. I like the blue look, so I run the blues 100%, and whites 25%. I read that coralline also likes a bluer scectrum. Tank has a vortech mp10 and a mj1200 for flow. Aqua c remora skimmer. There is just one fire goby in there for fish (want to add a clown at some point). For corals, I have gsp, various acros, stylophora, pocillopora, frogspawn, hammer, birds nest, candy cane, palythoas, and some others. I work at a public aquarium(where this tank is), and do the water changes in this tank using water from our established, healthy reef tank which grows coralline like a WEED! I also top off with a kalk drip, as we do in the big reef. All the corals in the 30 gallon are healthy and growing. A lot of the sps are actually encrusting onto the frag tray that they are sitting on. There are lots of tube worms, and other calcarious lifeforms. So, there is obviously calcium etc in the water. The ONLY thing that isn't growing in the tank is coralline. I have been scraping and introducing coralline from the other tank into this one since the beginning. It stays alive on the rocks that I introduce, but it does not spread. How can SPS, and all other calcium-needing organisms be flourishing in the tank, but not corallline?

 

Coralline algae is basically the same as sps corals so while blue wavelengths are good for color white light is needed for growth.I would turn the whites up and turn the blues down a little.Ime coralline algae doesnt do well under strong lighting especially uv wavelengths.Magnesium is also very important for coralline algae growth.

 

I agree with Vinny-twice.

 

Lol don't know how I got that double post.☺

 

How about I turn up the whites from 25%, to 50%, and leave the blues on 100%? The lighting does make sense. I have gsp growing up the wall. It is healthy, but growing extremely slow, and I know how fast it usually grows.

 

That should be o.k. but you may need to turn the uv down a bit . Keep in mind coralline is fairly slow growing and needs consistent water parameters as well. Be careful what you wish for as most experienced aquarist(myself included) consider it to be a nuisance as it is a pain to scrape and will use alk,cal, and mag.

 

Doesn't coralline take up the calcium needed for coral growth? I always thought it was more of a pest coral due to this fact and it pretty much out competes the corals for it causing slow growth and what not.