cant get coraline started

[o0jmadr0x0o]

my tanks been running for a little over 3 years and i still have zero Coraline algae on my glass. its a softie tank and i am pretty good with my water changes so i was not to concerned about alk/cal/mag. i wouldnt mind getting into some sps so i started testing/dosing alk/cal/mag about a year ago.

for the past year i have been in the area of

current parameters
alk- 8/9dkh
mag - 1250/1300
cal- 425/450

is there another element that my tank could be short of / coraline needs to grow? I dont particulary want coraline algae, but i dont want to start sps until i can get some of this purple stuff growing on my glass:irked:
if i cant get coraline to grow i doubt anything that uses calcification would do well in my tank.
what else am i missing? or could this possibly be normal?

 

[ming]

Light could be too strong or too weak
Coraline also likes high flow

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

try raising the calcuim to 480

 

[Josh]

pH?

 

[o0jmadr0x0o]

lights are a tek 8x54 on a 75g. for flow i have a tunze 6100 (3,000gph)
PH is a tricky one, i have a cheap ebay ph monitor that i do not trust much, but it usualy gives me between 7.3-8.1.
when i use a titration kit i get around 7.8

 

[JonnyIce]

jamie madrox? or no relation? lol

 

[o0jmadr0x0o]

yep jamie madrox....my first screen name, just cant let it go

 

[MatthewScars]

Up Mag to around 1450-1500

 

[h2o]

what did the trick for me was adding a pice of live rock with coraline on it and then it grew from there ,after the first year all my rock was all purple

 

[NYreefNoob]

or get some scrapings from someone, my sh tank which has super low flow, does have decent lighting current 20" 6bulb t5 dont add anything dont do wc's and have coraline that grows pretty good, actually better then my reef does with better lighting, ton of flow and cal, alk ect are up

 

[dj ze]

+1 on h2o

 

[rdmcgraw]

Im pretty much a noob, but isnt that ph a bit low? Ive been shooting for 8.1-8.3, and i have some fresh coraline growing in a 3 month old tank

 

[o0jmadr0x0o]

well heres the tank as of right now. as for seeding the tank, that big rock all the way on the left has been in the tank for about 6 moths it used to be crazy kinds or purple, some has died off most has just faded to a pale purple

 

[ryangrieder]

tank looks really nice, its just missing coraline algae! haha jk. i was in the same situation you were in. my tank was about 2 years old and i NEVER got coraline algae. i didnt mind too much but conserned why i was not. then i started dosing kalk and it actually kinda worked. only thing though was it would not spread... but it was a start. tiny dots appeared on my rocks of purple. then i bought a bottle of purple up by caribsea. i dont care what anyone says about it, it WORKED FOR ME. i used it for a good straight 3 months and then i never had to buy it again because it helped the dots of purple double in size within weeks and then the glass took over and then i had so much i had to start scraping it off. i stopped dosing purple up after the 3 months because it was unnessessary anymore. i had plenty naturally growing.

and yes that ph is very low... 8.3, 8.4 is good. but SLOWLY bring it up. a good water change could even help

 

[Josh]

Is that some coraline right by the holes in the overflow bottom? If so, your flow is too low and if you increase it you will see more growth on the rest of the tank.

Also, confirm that your PH actually goes as low as 7.3, that indicates some sort of problem.