I take my snails and scrape the coraline off them in the tank. I was told this by an oldtimer and it seems to work.
Purple up Live Rock.
- Thread starter TheCanuck
- Start date
Thanks guys for this scraping thing. I haven't herd of this. I just hope it doesn't get the algae all over my glass.
I have so much coraline I can barely see my rocks
I just dose , Kalk. and let it fly
But in my wife's tank I scraped a bunch or coraline out of my sump and just dumped the flakes and powder like stuff right in and in two months she has BANGING growth.
I just dose , Kalk. and let it fly
But in my wife's tank I scraped a bunch or coraline out of my sump and just dumped the flakes and powder like stuff right in and in two months she has BANGING growth.
TheCanuck;3967210; said:
unfortunately coraline on the glass is inevitable but when you scrape it off the glass you'll spread it more again into your system just watch your power-heads and other equipment once they get coraline you'll have to do a tri-monthly or every 6 months dip them in white vinegar for 24 hours and then rinse extremely well and soak in RO to remove the algae and to prevent them from burning up.
mr.reef24
this is good information for future reference. I have never had problems with algae on the glass. Just very little brown, but have seen algae consume tanks. I think i am lucky and have good tap water. Couldn't imaigine my powerheads covered lol.
I can't believe no one has mentioned this yet:
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12799
Purple Up will supplement your water with calcium, iodine, and other trace minerals that coralline algae needs to flourish. After the first few doses, check your calcium levels and maintain them above 380ppm but below 420ppm. It does make your water cloudy for about 20 minutes then clears up. I dose at night before I go to bed that way it's clear by morning.
That said, as others have mentioned your rock needs to already be seeded with some amount of coralline algae in order for it to be able to expand and grow. The scraping idea works, otherwise buy a couple well-covered rocks from your LFS or another reef-keeper and place them in your tank in high flow areas. I have been building my live rock slowly, as I pay $12.99 per pound for live rock from my LFS that is already COVERED in dark, deep, rich purple coralline. Then I use the Purple Up to maintain it. You also need a decent water flow, moderate amounts of lighting at 6K or higher for 8-10 hours per day, and need to make sure your phosphate levels are low or nonexistant. I use Phos-Ban in my canister to remove all phosphates. Phosphates cause diatom growth (the gross brown algae you get) and hair algae growth (fuzzy weird greenish brown algae), and these inhibit coralline growth by consuming nutrients needed by it and taking over space. The coralline will inevitably spread to the glass, but just keep up on cleaning it with magnets/algae scrapers and it should be manageable.
Good luck!
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12799
Purple Up will supplement your water with calcium, iodine, and other trace minerals that coralline algae needs to flourish. After the first few doses, check your calcium levels and maintain them above 380ppm but below 420ppm. It does make your water cloudy for about 20 minutes then clears up. I dose at night before I go to bed that way it's clear by morning.
That said, as others have mentioned your rock needs to already be seeded with some amount of coralline algae in order for it to be able to expand and grow. The scraping idea works, otherwise buy a couple well-covered rocks from your LFS or another reef-keeper and place them in your tank in high flow areas. I have been building my live rock slowly, as I pay $12.99 per pound for live rock from my LFS that is already COVERED in dark, deep, rich purple coralline. Then I use the Purple Up to maintain it. You also need a decent water flow, moderate amounts of lighting at 6K or higher for 8-10 hours per day, and need to make sure your phosphate levels are low or nonexistant. I use Phos-Ban in my canister to remove all phosphates. Phosphates cause diatom growth (the gross brown algae you get) and hair algae growth (fuzzy weird greenish brown algae), and these inhibit coralline growth by consuming nutrients needed by it and taking over space. The coralline will inevitably spread to the glass, but just keep up on cleaning it with magnets/algae scrapers and it should be manageable.
Good luck!
Bottom Sucker;3972205; said:
This was just the most basic thing to do so. I know if you ask every petstore they tell you the same thing, I was looking for some trade secrets and got some good ones.
Thanks pinklady.
Thanks everyone, ill be seeding and dosing my new 360, it was suppose to be here this weekend, guy flaked out.
