what is the easy way to grow (purple) coralline algae

[wolfmeyer]

just placed 40 lbs of live rock in my tank with no coralline algae or much growth on the it. It has been in the tanks for 4 days and the only thing started to grow is brown stuff or algae i think? i also have green and red algae growing heavily, not sure if bulbs are bad. the light and bulbs were purchase 8 weeks a go

all the test seem good

calcium 400

lights on 8 hours

:?:

[Pineapple House]

From my experience, it only grows in a more mature tank, less lighting, calcium around 450ppm, and lower amounts of phosphate. It's quite common to start seeing the brown and green algae, esspecielly considering the rock has been in the tank only 4 days. I would try to look for a spot with some coralline algae on it, and put a power head on it. This would help spreading around the spores of the coralline, increasing your chances of getting this to grow. I would be too suprized if you didn't start to see it in 5 months. It took my tank 8 months until I really started to get some good coralline algae growth all on the glass and rocks. I know theres a couple threads out here about coralline algae. I'll try and get them for you.

PH =)

[Pineapple House]

http://www.ReefLounge.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=420&highlight=grow+coralline+algae

http://www.ReefLounge.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=78&highlight=grow+coralline+algae

HTH

PH =)

[HoopsGuru]

Supplement with Seachem's Reef Calcium. It is sugar based so it is not that helpful for much else but is EXCELLENT for boosting coralline. I have noticed significant growth immediately after I began dosing.

[Harpo]

If your rock really has none then you'll have to import a source. Easiest is to have a fellow reefer give you a small rock with coralline on it. Scrape it with a knife blade in the water to spread bits throughout the tank. You can also buy coralline pegs. IPSF has them for sale.

Conventional wisdom for coralline growth is high alk, high calcium,low phosphates and fairly low lighting. I think there is more to it than that because very similiar tanks differ radically in how much grows. Some have had excellent results with calcium gluconate. (see Hoopsguru's post) For me it didn't seem to affect growth rate.

Mark

[killroysrevenge]

Everyone always forgets to add strontium. It is not as important as Calcium and your Alk. but it is important.

[HoopsGuru]

Everyone always forgets to add strontium. It is not as important as Calcium and your Alk. but it is important.

I have never heard of a link between strontium and coralline algae. I have searched the net exclusively and was wondering if you could direct me to a site or a book or something so I could do some further reading. Thanks!

[steve1s]

Actually Killroy is correct. Although I cannot direct you to a specific link, strontium is used in the make up of calcerous animals.

Don't forget coralline is not a true algae, it is a very basic type of coral.

Chemically as we are always adjusting alk and calcium, strontium is pushed out of solution the same way high alk will lower the levels of calcium.

Cheers
Steve

[killroysrevenge]

Sorry, I can never remember where I read stuff and I am not very good at finding stuff again online. All I do is read about reefs online and the occasional game or two. Strontium is used like calcium by corals and mussels. It is also very cheap compared to most additives. :P

[Apophis924]

I had no coralline growth for 9 months, then i started dosing with kalk and vinegar. And now i have very good growth Keep PO4 low, CA++ high and PH around 8.2. I dont worry too much about Alk mine runs very high 16 dKH. As far as dosing with Strontium, If i don't test for it i dont add it in the tank. If you are worried about trace elements do small frequent water changes. And use carbon about once a month for a few days to keep the water clear. I dont know if this is a connection but i also removed some very nice urchins black spiney ones from the tank. I heard that they will eat coralline at times. All i know is the urchins are gone and the coralline is in full effect.

[Irisservice]

Apophis924
kalk and vinegar!!!
Whats the vinegar for?
How do you use it?

[dreadmoon7]

i heard that the only reason that strontium is found in the make up of hard corals/coraline algae, is that it is found as a trace element, and is actually midly irritating, or toxic to corals, it's been in the ocean from the beginning and the only reason it's found in the corals is that the only way for the animal to get rid of it is to deposite it as part of it's skeletons, this is true because there are some parts of the red sea and estuaries that had little or no strontium concentrations , or other calcarious material, and thus the make-up of the corals skeletons are different, any one else read this article..... i found it in one of the monthly pampflets in the LFS


p.s. i have not added strontium to my system for over a year, and not noticed ANY problems/ of benefits of having used it in the past

sincerely,

Aaron Moon

[killroysrevenge]

Interesting. Does the pamplet have a web-site listed on it. So that all could read this. I'm skeptical about scientist bright new ideas. Who did this research.

[Apophis924]

Irisservice:
Hi, the reason i add vinegar to my kalk solution is..It allows more ca++ to dissolve into the solution since CaOH does not dissolve very good in water, Second it forces the reactions to go to their limits producing CA++ and Bicarbornate ions rather than Ca Bicarbonate which is what you do not want in the tank. The CaBicarbonate is the "snow" we see when we cause Ca++ to precipitate out of solution...Third it provides a source of carbon for my nitrogen processing bacteria allowing them to convert more nitrate in to nitrogen gas. My source for all this info is experience and an article i read in aquarium Frontiers here is the link.
It makes some VERY good reading even if you decide not to go this route.
Hope this Helps
http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1999/oct/bio/default.asp

[HoopsGuru]

Sorry, I can never remember where I read stuff and I am not very good at finding stuff again online. All I do is read about reefs online and the occasional game or two.


That's cool, I'll keep running around online and maybe I'll happen upon the same place! :D I hate when I don't bookmark too, nothing like spending an evening trying to dig up that good article you saw before. :evil: :D

[HoopsGuru]

I have to agree with dreadmoon7.

"Strontium is a prominent and widely used, or misused, trace element that is involved in coral skeletogenesis. Corals regularly replace and/or substitute calcium ions with strontium ions in their skeletons. Following normal calcium ion pathways, strontium competes with calcium.

In any case, the actual requirements for strontium in corals are not at all clear. The fact that strontium is incorporated into coral skeletons does not establish that it is of any real significance. Although it has been suggested that calcification rates increase in the presence of enhanced strontium levels, it seems that the incorporation of strontium results in reduced or slower growth and increased skeletal density." (Borneman, 2001)

Strontium has also been found to be a competitive inhibitor of calcification. (Chalker, 1976; Ip and Krishnaveni, 1991)

"Studies have almost all shown strontium to be an anomaly of skeletogenesis, not required for calcification or growth." (Borneman, 2001)


Just provided this so anyone can reach their own judgement and opinion, but it does not seem to be a new idea. I have my own opinion, but the above is not stated to declare anything right or wrong.