Interesting observation regarding coralline algae

[HawkeyeDJ]

It took well over a year to finally get coralline algae to grow in my 24 gallon AIO cube. I never added any of the coralline additives on the market, just waited for the purple stuff on my snails to take off. I was thrilled because the consensus is that coralline is a sign of a mature, stable tank. Yay!

The CA took off, covering every rock and the back wall. However, I noticed that there was an upper limit to the coralline on the back wall. It abruptly stopped about 4 inches from the top. It is as straight as a ruler, without a single spot of CA above. I first thought maybe it was a lack of light, so I adjusted the light to make sure the top four inches were well lit. It made no difference. The CA refused to grow above this apparently arbitrary line.

Then I finally saw what was causing this strange phenomenon. When I do a water change each week, I remove 5 gallons. That is the line! The coralline apparently cannot tolerate being out of the water, even briefly (20-30 minutes).

Has anyone else noticed this in their tanks?

 

[JGT]

Yep, and if you do have it it will die and turn super fluorescent and then eventually white.

 

[Snoopdog]

I guess I never really noticed it dying when out of the water that length of time, something to take note of during water changes. I am pretty quick on water changes though, the water is down maybe 2-3 minutes at the most.

 

[Airwolf]

I've have the same thing on my end, straight line where the water level 'recedes' to when doing water changes.

 

[Stephen Glover]

Mine would turn bright orange after air exposure

 

[HawkeyeDJ]

Looks like coralline to me.

 

[Estonian Reefer]

Yup, that's quite normal for CA.

 

[MartyM]

It took well over a year to finally get coralline algae to grow in my 24 gallon AIO cube. I never added any of the coralline additives on the market, just waited for the purple stuff on my snails to take off. I was thrilled because the consensus is that coralline is a sign of a mature, stable tank. Yay!

The CA took off, covering every rock and the back wall. However, I noticed that there was an upper limit to the coralline on the back wall. It abruptly stopped about 4 inches from the top. It is as straight as a ruler, without a single spot of CA above. I first thought maybe it was a lack of light, so I adjusted the light to make sure the top four inches were well lit. It made no difference. The CA refused to grow above this apparently arbitrary line.

Then I finally saw what was causing this strange phenomenon. When I do a water change each week, I remove 5 gallons. That is the line! The coralline apparently cannot tolerate being out of the water, even briefly (20-30 minutes).

Has anyone else noticed this in their tanks?

If you have your lights on while doing a water change, the significant increase in light intensity could also be a factor as well.

 

[GARRIGA]

Another excuse for no WC although my problem low pH. Wish I had the ability to kill above the water line

 

[stevelee]

It took well over a year to finally get coralline algae to grow in my 24 gallon AIO cube. I never added any of the coralline additives on the market, just waited for the purple stuff on my snails to take off. I was thrilled because the consensus is that coralline is a sign of a mature, stable tank. Yay!

The CA took off, covering every rock and the back wall. However, I noticed that there was an upper limit to the coralline on the back wall. It abruptly stopped about 4 inches from the top. It is as straight as a ruler, without a single spot of CA above. I first thought maybe it was a lack of light, so I adjusted the light to make sure the top four inches were well lit. It made no difference. The CA refused to grow above this apparently arbitrary line.

Then I finally saw what was causing this strange phenomenon. When I do a water change each week, I remove 5 gallons. That is the line! The coralline apparently cannot tolerate being out of the water, even briefly (20-30 minutes).
kkday 쿠폰
Has anyone else noticed this in their tanks?

Hi I've had some red/purple patches appearing on my live rock could it be coralline algae ? or something to be concerned about ?