Getting color in my lr?

My tank has been running for 8 weeks now and i have coral algae all over the powerheads and ocean rock that i added to the tank amnongst other colours, i have not added anything to the tank, not even done a water change yet and i filled it with tap water doh....so far it's looking great though..

 

I got my lr at the lfs and who know what kind of rock they gave me. I took the one piece out because it looked like a lava rock. I will get my reading today. I got the kits to test my levels.

 

Ph=8.2
Calcium=500ppm
Magnesium=1350

 

So how do I get coralline algae? What about using purple up? Seems like I need algae for it to work.

 

best bet at this point is probably just patience you cant really force coralline to grow, can just give it the best possible environment to flourish in once it does grow

 

I would just be patient with it, don't use that purple up crap or any other "miracle" cures. If you keep good water quality you should have no problem. Some things you should be testing for:
Ph
Phosphate
Mg
Calcium
nitrate
nitrite
ammonia
alkalinity
I use Elos test kits, they are pricey but are also lab-grade quality, well worth it IMO. I also use Epsom salt to boost my mg and it works great, never harmed salinity a single bit I don't know where that theory came from.

 

If there is no coralline algae in my tank to start with will it still start to grow or do I need a lr with it on it?

 

seeding with good coraline LR isnt a bad idea

 

You will start seeing speckles of coraline algae first appear on live rock and on your powerheads too after about 4/6 weeks, pristine water, calcium in the water & lighting is all that is needed...