Coraline Algae Question

[LeoLionFish]

As most of you know my tank is a little over a month now. I added a med sized rock covered in coraline. I have brushed it twice in front of my powerhead. When can I start seeing some growth? I dose kalk so my calcium is 480 ppg.

 

[pickupman66]

give it time. it will come. mine seems to explode in spurts. what kinds of lights are you using?

 

[LeoLionFish]

I have 2 10k Kessil and 1 15k Kessil pendant LED with a Current USA actinic LED strip light.

 

[Dowtish]

Dude it will happen soon enough. Just keep your parameters stable, and before you know it, you'll be scraping it off the front glass.

 

[SRT80]

I hate coraline algae. I'm always scrapin' it from the glass. I used to try and keep at least the sides and front clean. Now I do good just to handle the front. And I'm only workin' with a small 20 gal tank.

Steve

 

[Abiathar]

Basically, just give it time. Once it starts, it will take off like wildfire and you'll be constantly scraping it off the front so you can see in the tank.

Steve

 

[pickupman66]

fwiw... I have it growing in my Skimmer now. it gets natural light in the garage and its growing in the bubbled up enviroment.

 

[Wy Renegade]

LOL, yep everyone wants it to start with, then in becomes a pain and we wish it would go away. Give it a little time to get established and it will show up. I'd be curious to hear about growth from those with LEDs though to compare with CF, Metal halides, and T5s. Best coralline growth I've ever had was under CF lighting.

 

[LeoLionFish]

Well I have LEDs and will keep you updated on how "well" things grow and color.

 

[Abiathar]

I'm running LEDs on my 5.5 but it is still too young to tell. It is slowly starting to grow, but hasn't taken off, yet. The macro algae in the tank is doing great as are the pods, crabs, shrimp and fish.

Steve

 

[greyowl2001]

Yap in due time you will get sick of it I running 2 55`s and a 110 gal and it is a pain ! but pretty ,my lites are T5`s

 

[pickupman66]

Read somewhere that the actinocs only seem to encourage its growth. When I was doing a modified light cycle, my coralline exploded due to running actinics only for 4 -6 hours daily vs 2.

 

[LeoLionFish]

So instead of starting a new thread... Let me ask some lighting questions. Should I start my actinic strip LEDs an hour before my 10k and 15k LEDs?? And then run them an hour after they turn off?? Given my current lights what do you all recommend on a lighting schedule? How long and what times to turn on and off??

 

[Dowtish]

I think that would be a great idea. This simulates a dusk/dawn effect.

 

[LeoLionFish]

Dowtish - What is the total time on for all lights and what time should I start in the morning?

 

[gmoney243]

usually 8-12 hours depending on what u want .. i would do a light cycle that works best for when you are at home to view your tank the most. you could grow corals just fine with your lights off during the day and have them on at night if you was a late night person. what matters is they get plenty of light for food and darkness for rest.

 

[Dowtish]

Just like Mike said, you can start the 8-12 hour cycle whenever you want. I personally have my lunar LED's come on around 10am for one hour. then my Blue Actinics come on for 2 hours, then my daylights after that. Then basically reverse this cycle with the daylights going out, then the actinics, then the LED's last. All this is in a 12 hour cycle. I like my lights to be on til at least 10pm, that is right about the time I usually go to bed. So I can enjoy my tank when I home.