Speeding up coraline??

I personally hate coralline algae. By the end of every tax season, all I had was a 3 inch window to my 75, I gave up entirely on my 200 but that was viewed from the top so I didn't care. I took off April 16th of every year and scraped from morning to night.

This is not true. This is a myth that started with an article Dr. Shmuck wrote a number of years back. Live Rock As A Biological Filter: Hit or Myth? by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D.. - Reefkeeping.com

The thallus of coralline algae is quite porous....it's almost like lattice. Since water gets into LR via fusion and viscous entrainment instead of by worms like the good Dr. says, it doesn't matter if coralline grows over the pores. Water can pass right through.

With that said, and I said it because most people believe that only the water that makes it all the way into the interior where anaerobic bacteria can do their thing, it's not even necessary. This graphic shows that all you need is a biofilm that is at least .010 micromoles thick for anaerobic conditions. In other words, denitrification is happening on your front glass in the biofilm and you are looking right through it. Pretty cool huh? So in other words, a lot of the denitrification is happening right on the surface of the rock.

 

And to add on what Inwall said, Not every LR has coraline, only where it is getting light. If you have ever taken apart or moved around your LR, you will see that the LR that was shaded, doesnt have coraline on it. Great explaination Inwall. Luna

 

One thing to take into consideration! As your coralline algae growth advances, and you have hermatypic corals and other calcium loving animals, you will have to consistently check your calcium and other levels that are directly affected by the increase or decrease in calcium that coralline depletes rather quickly!

 

I'm scraping the glass today and doing a wc later this afternoon.
Not much else to do...It's rainy and crappy out.

Last call, just pay shipping and I'll send a bunch of coralline scrapings in a ziplock bag w/ a little tank water to whomever wants it.

 

Whoever wants mine, has to come scrape it themselves! Not growing on the back glass where I want it, but grows like a weed on the front glass!!!

Gin

 

This a a neat debate from my perspective. I used almost all base rock when doing my tank, and coraline was never introduced. I have been thinking of seeding it lately, but I guess I will have to weigh all the pro's/con's. :-/

 

PackLeader,
It's hard to tell from your sig pic, but it looks like you might have some coralline on the base of some of your corals. If it is (hard to see, really) it will spread when conditions are right.
I'd redirect some of the flow in there, check your water, and try to get rid of that red cyano first though.

 

So I think that coralline algae is bad? Doesnt it make the bacteria cycle better? Still new to this and trying to figure it out. I have some on my LR but it hasn't taken off or gotten out of control. tanks is 8 weeks old I thought it was helpful for the growth of pods and stuff