Coralline

How long typically should it take before Corraline will start to grow in a reef tank (glass, etc) that has LR covered in it?

Thanks,
Jay

 

Took mine about 6 months for it started encrusting the glass. Mine seems to like the black pumps and darker clolored things to grow on. Just keep your tank in right parameters and it will soon be a pain.

 

Make sure your alk,cal, and mag are at the right levels and your coralline will come with time.

 

lol try starting with none and then start complaining! It will def come with time if ur lr has it then it will start to grow the way you want it. Remember patience in this hobby!

 

Got it, just wanted to make sure so I have a goal. 6 months sounds pretty good to me

Thanks,
Jay

 

Time is not so much an issue as your calcium alkalinity and magnesium levels. I started getting it after 4 weeks because I kept my calcium at 480 and my alk at 10-12. I use the 3 part mix from DT's and the stuff grows over night in blotches pretty much every where.

I put a dead rock in the tank and the following week it had a strip of coraline 5 inches long and an inch wide.


The stuff gets annoying because it grows over night on the front glass and I have to use a razor to scrape it off. My power heads prevent soft algae from growing on the front glass and the only thing I have to clean is the coraline.

 

My current tank is 13 days old, with 15lbs live rock and 60lbs of base rock and live sand.

I noticed last night that my base rock has pink and purple starting to show everywhere. I was really really surprised to see Coralline growth at this rate so fast.

What I did, was I took one of my smaller live rocks with Coralline on it and a file, I turned off my power heads and filed a patch of coralline algae off into the tank. I let it sit for about two hours and then turned the power heads back on.

Evidently it worked.

 

IMHO, the stuff is a huge pain in the butt. I'd like to have a healthy tank without it.