Coralline algae? When does it start and what does it need to begin?

omar jawad · Oct 13, 2015

When shall I expect to see Corralline algae?
I have certain snails with Corralline algae on them. I've taken their shells and rubbed them on rocks to begin seeding the tank but I have not seen any results yet. The system is at roughly 9 weeks old. It began with uncured base rock. The system was cycled with the Red Sea Reef Mature program. KH has never been less then 8.5.

Please advise.

Thank You

reefwiser · Oct 13, 2015

You needs good healthy supply of coralline algae and just a few snail shells will make it tough to get going. Stable calcium and alkalinity is a must. As well as good lighting on the tank. In he old days we where lucky live rock was covered with coralline algae so we just had to keep calcium stable to keep it alive. Everyone now uses dead rock with nothing growing on it. It's so sad. [emoji23]
My new tank I called on Gerald Heslinga at Indo Pacific Farms to supply me with Coralline algae.

http://ipsf.com/corallinebooster.html
In fact I have a box coming in on Wednesday this week. Will post a picture of all the algae when it get it.

brandon429 · Oct 13, 2015

some tanks will run years w no coralline even in good water conditions so its fair to say some will not follow a timeframe in growing their own in addition to what might have been added.

I can get coralline to spot on the glass of a new pico reef by using live rock and good calcium/alk dosing in 6-8 weeks 100% of the time. left undosed the same systems w spot coralline in a couple-4 mos. LED lights seem to have ranging effects on coralline and one benefit of still being on old school power compact lighting is I cant scrape off coralline fast enough it will totally opaque the tank if not removed.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 13, 2015

As best I can tell, coralline is spurred by low phosphate (say, 0.02 ppm), adequate calcium, normal to high alkalinity and magnesium, and maybe low organics (that's more speculation).

You obviously also need a source of spores or bits of coralline of a species suitable to the light levels in your tank, and a place for it to grow that is not already occupied by some other organism (such as algae).

It seems to grow first on more hydrophobic surfaces, such as plastics.