Essentiality of Coraline Algae

[RaymondL]

As I understand it, having the purple Coralline algae present in a new tank signals that the tank is ready and stable for corals.

I'm in week 2 of my new tank with 2 clowns at the moment, and with the lights off until 4 months down the road.

Catch-22 here: how can Coralline algae grow if it's recommended to keeps the lights off? Just as well, is it completely accurate in the first statement that the presence of Coralline algae is a must before populating with corals?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

you cant grow coraline without lights.
Corals can be added without coraline, they are not related in any way.

PS - 4 months of lights off doesnt accomplish anything except having a dark tank for 4 months, algae will still grow when you turn the lights on.

 

[sixty_reefer]

you cant grow coraline without lights.
Corals can be added without coraline, they are not related in any way.

How? Coralline is a algae it won’t grow without light.

 

[Smoke-Town]

I have a 2 year old system with all rocks purple as barney the dinosaur and a 10 year old system with basically zero coraline... both tanks are doing well... just operated and maintained differently

 

[AnyNameYouWish]

I had my lights on since day one and did not start to grow coralline Algae until after 4 months anyway ( I started with dry real reef rock ). You don’t need coralline to populate with corals but if you have a new tank without coralline just expect a things to die. Not saying corals won’t die if you have coralline.

coralline is just a good indication things are headed in the right direction, the most important thing is stability and that is something a new tank is going to struggle with

 

[bnord]

I think the notion is that if Coraline is growing then other parameters in the tank, light and element may support coral. I think more and more people are putting Corals in with the lights on with clean up crew shortly after the cycle has been completed. My senses you may be holding off the lights a little too long in an effort to not have algae, which is the above stated is inevitable .

 

[Waters]

Coralline is not needed to grow coral....the two are completely independent of each other. People use the growth of coralline as a determining factor that the tank has been running stable for X amount of time. I have had reef tanks that never grew coralline at all.

 

[SPS2020]

If you have no coralline, you are blessed! LOL I'm fortunate (so far) that my DT has very little, but I struggle to keep it out of my smaller 60g tank. Both are Acropora tanks.

Agree with the others that they are independent of one another and the presence of it is just an indicator.

 

[Tired]

Coraline can be a good indicator that a tank is ready for corals, especially as vigorous coraline growth generally occurs in tanks that have conditions suitable for hardy stony corals, but it's not needed for corals.

What rock did you start with? Having the lights off may be counterproductive; if it's dry rock, you want to get past the ugly stage before you start adding many corals, and the ugly stage can't progress (and therefore end) without algae growth.

 

[killer2001]

Perhaps coralline algae is used as an indicator that you can start adding more advanced corals.

 

[DB402020]

I was in your shoes about four months ago. Started my 120g and I couldn't hold back on turning the lights on. Added coral almost as soon as the cycle was done and things have done well. I am only recently starting to get coralline algae in substantial amounts, but have had all my corals do well even before then. This includes acros. Alot of them are encrusting and growing. The key is stability.