coraline/lighting question

[crage34]

look at my sig. for my tank description. I have a fowlr tank and i would really like my coraline to florish like the display tank at the lfs (they have coraline completely covering a glass coke bottle!)and right now i just have splotches of coraline on my live rock...i think that i need some better lighting, keep in mind i just want to help my coraline situation..im not looking into getting any corals...right now i just have a hood on the tank with just a 36" regular florecent light...now would it be possible to change that light out for a different light that actually has a spectrum to better benifit life in my tank or maybe even a low light coral...anysuggestions would be great

 

[indy]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=26425&highlight=

These are some of my thoughts from a while back. Only thing that has changed is I'm only running 110 vs. the original 220w, but only because I can't keep the temp under control with the 220's. My base rock is now mostly encrusted with coraline since the time I posted the original.

BTW, you can upgrade to 110w of PC for about $50 including bulbs if you're willing to diy.

 

[sw-addict]

we have a 120g reef tank with fancy expensive lighting and pristine water quality that has been up for about a year and a half no coraline anywhere but on the lr until recently when we switched to oceanic salt. we also have a 29g fowlr that has been set up for 9 months with normal aquarium lighting the whole back glass panel is covered in purple coraline its even a pain to keep it off the 3 viewing sides of the tank. I'm just posting this to let you know there is no standard for coraline algae growth.

 

[jamal-188]

IMO it actually grows better under less intese lighting. My reef tank w/ 2x250 mh's it grows faster under somewhat shaded areas such as under my overflow box, under my power heads, on the botoom sides of rocks etc... It also grows a lot faster in another one of my tanks that has PC lighting.

 

[ClamKnuckle]

Don't different types (colors) grow better under different light intensity anyway?

 

[WarOrks15]

well i have foun that it grows best on differtn stuff.the over flow in my tank has tons of it on it. the rock is coverd and the glass is now just egtting some little spots. but it takes time for it to grow, i hve 2 96 watt pc on the tank and the tank is 46 gals. one thing you can do to make it grow faster is go to the lfs and get the coraline off there glass and use it to seed your tank. i did not ahve to do this becasue i bought live rock from liverocks.com and it had tons of the pink and purple coraline on it.

 

[crage34]

so can i get a bulb to replace the reg. fluorecent bulb with my existing hood and what bulb should i get?...again im not looking at growing any corals i would just like my coraline to grow and spread good adding color to my tank

 

[crage34]

anyone? indy, im definetly a diy kind of person, where can i get that kit? and is that strong enough light for any corals or is this just gonna help my coraline? which is what i want but if im gonna diy and upgrade i might as well be able to keep some other things in the tank also

 

[crage34]

indy?

 

[seaham358]

I have a 125 reef and 55 fowlr and I have coraline algae in both tanks. 4x160 watt vho in reef and 2x 40 watt in NO on my 55.
If you want coraline you will need to dose your tank with calcium and alkalinity.
I use the 2 part b-ionic and it is great stuff. Are you adding anything to your tank and if so what are your levels at. I have only dosed a few times in my 55 and I have coraline on 60% of the LR and 10% of the glass. I'm not too worried about it in my 55. Wit regular water changes in my 55 it should get enough of what it needs to keep growing slowly.... Good luck..... I argree about too much light is not the right answer.

 

[crage34]

i have never dosed the tank with anything...and i have never tested calcium or alk....all other levels are great : ammonia:0 trites:0 trates:8 ph: 8.0....so if i add some stuff u say my coraline will florish like i want it to? i will need more instructino on doseing if possible and what to dose (products)...thank u very much

 

[seaham358]

B-ionic 2 part system..... Calcium and Alkilinity I have my levels at 400-450 cal and around 10.5 on the alk. It is a must for the coralline to grow. There are other companies that make the stuff but b-ionic is all I use and most of the guys in my reef club also use it with great success. Just follow the directions on the product you use. It will take a few weeks to get the levels to where you want because you don't want to make a big jump all at once. I switched to Ocieanic salt and that has the Cal level at 500 so I hardly use the cal additive anymore. Good luck...

 

[crage34]

thank u very much seaham im gonna order some of that

 

[crage34]

well i just ordered that kit seaham..thanks for my suggestion...i also bout a cal. test how often should i have to dose this in my tank and how often should i check my cal. and alk?

 

[Avi]

Indy must be taking that vacation on the Riviera. If you want to do some DIY lighting, go to www.ahsupply.com...Their telephone number's there at the home page. I've made some purchases there and they are very reliable and they back their products. They'll tell you exactly what you need to spruce up what you already have. I suppose you can get even more DIY than that, but it could be a hassle if you don't have someone to guide you through it.

 

[seaham358]

You will probably need to dose some every day in the beginning to get the levels up where you need them. You will need to test the cal and alk every other day at least in the beginning so you don't over dose the tank and you don't let the levels drop again. After a few months you should figure out how much your tank will need to be dosed every day/ every week, and then you should only need to test once a week or so. If you have no corals you should be able to get the levels up fairly quick and you should not need to dose everyday....... Trial and error....