A strange place for coralline

[JT101]

My 46g bowfront has EXTREMELY slow coralline growth since being established in May 2011. There's only a few small patches here & there. However, yesterday I decided to clean out my overflow and what I saw on the inner box amazed me. The bottom of the black plastic box - on the INSIDE of the box - was absolutely CAKED with beautiful pinkish and purple coralline growth!!! Why am I not seeing this everywhere else? I mean, it can't be the water - everything goes through that box. The lighting? The box sees very little direct lighting. What could be producing such favorable conditions in such an odd place?

 

[duke62]

Its probably acylic. Coraline attaches alot faster to plastic then glass

 

[JT101]

Thanks for the info.

Stupidly, I scrubbed it out and actually TOSSED OUT THE CORALINE! I should have ground it up and swushed it around inside my tank! Oh well...

 

[Mike389]

Thanks for the info.

Stupidly, I scrubbed it out and actually TOSSED OUT THE CORALINE! I should have ground it up and swushed it around inside my tank! Oh well...

yea that would have been best... then the coraline could attach to the rock ang glass inside your tank... tho im sure some spores mad to your sump mayb you will start to see growth there

 

[tangy84]

Shut off your skimmer, and take a rock with coraline and scrub the coraline off the rock with a razor and whatever falls let it just run in the tank. gl

 

[ming]

Coraline actually prefers not intense lighting. It also prefers high flow.
Thats why it usually grows on the glass faster then rocks, because the glass has less direct lighting, and most powerheads are aimed at the glass.

 

[JT101]

Coraline actually prefers not intense lighting. It also prefers high flow.
Thats why it usually grows on the glass faster then rocks, because the glass has less direct lighting, and most powerheads are aimed at the glass.

See, this is the thing here (and I DO thank you for your reply, it is much appreciated), I hear all different anecdotes:

Coraline loves more blueish than white light
Coraline loves bright light
Coraline loves DIM light
Coraline grows in shade
Coraline does NOT grow in the shade
Coraline needs high magnesium levels - that's more critical than calcium
Coraline needs high calcium levels - that's more critical than magnesium

It is all very confusing...:happysad:

BTW - I have coraline growing in my sump but not on my glass!!! ARRGH!!!

 

[Arati]

Coraline actually prefers not intense lighting. It also prefers high flow.
Thats why it usually grows on the glass faster then rocks, because the glass has less direct lighting, and most powerheads are aimed at the glass.

that is why its in the overflow low light high flow.

 

[JT101]

that is why its in the overflow low light high flow.

So if I up my flow (with all other things being equal) I may start to see more coraline growth in the display tank?

 

[Arati]

I think the most important factor in coraline growth is stable alk/calc balance.

if you don't have good coraline growth , its much more likely that you need to fix that.

if I look at your tank stats I can see right away 2 things. First is that skimmer , I know they push those things around LI but its a POS you need to get a good one. second is no mechanical dosing system , no calcium reactor, no dosing pump, kalk stirer ect. so you have to manualy dose 2 part ime 75% of people do not have the ocd to dose daily. imo for coraline growth , in 2 easy steps.

or you can do 1 less easy step 10+ gal water change weekly.

if I assumed to much I am sorry, just giving my best advice.

 

[JT101]

I think the most important factor in coraline growth is stable alk/calc balance. if you don't have good coraline growth , its much more likely that you need to fix that.

Yep, I've thought about that too - I'm looking for ANY "smoking gun" here.

if I look at your tank stats I can see right away 2 things. First is that skimmer , I know they push those things around LI but its a POS you need to get a good one.

Yeah, I do know that :happysad: . I don't want to name names, but when I got this system started early 2011 the LFS I went to was really pushing this skimmer. I went back a few weeks ago (having not been there for a while) and I began a little chat with the owner. I asked him how he keeps his tanks so clean, which naturally lead to "well, what is your CUC, what is your lighting, what kind of skimmer do you have etc?" I didn't tell him that he himself recommended the Coralife 65g but I DID say that is the one I have, to which he replied "well that's probably your problem right there...". WHAT!!!??? Are you KIDDING me!!!?? You mean you actually RECOMMEND this POS to me a year ago, and now when I come to you for advice you "forget" that you SOLD me one? I just stared at him....:grumpy:

second is no mechanical dosing system , no calcium reactor, no dosing pump, kalk stirer ect. so you have to manualy dose 2 part ime 75% of people do not have the ocd to dose daily. imo for coraline growth , in 2 easy steps. or you can do 1 less easy step 10+ gal water change weekly.

Right now I do weekly 10g WC's which works out to 16.9% total volume (my tank + sump has a calculated volume of 59g total)

if I assumed to much I am sorry, just giving my best advice.

No worries! Thanks very much for chiming in, I do appreciate it