Coralline algae question

[midiman]

Does coralline algae start out white? I had a large area of white on my LR, but it seems to be turning purple. Also, is there BLUE coralline algae? One of my patches is blue, unless it's something else.

My camera won't focus on it. I didn't know that a new digital camera with manual focus was going to be required for this hobby!!!

 

[BDAWG]

Does it look something like this...

 

[BDAWG]

If so, I was told by steve-s and Fluff that it might be some sort of sponge. Pretty cool!

 

[steve-s]

Does coralline algae start out white?

No, that would usually indicate bleaching.

I had a large area of white on my LR, but it seems to be turning purple.

That is a good sign. The new growth of coralline is growing over the old stuff. It will eventually completely cover the area providing conditions remain favorable.

Cheers
Steve

 

[midiman]

Hey DAWG, that's EXACTLY what I have!! I feel like I'm looking at a picture of my rock!

And, Steve ... tank conditions WILL continue to remain favorable!!! I had to slowly increase alk and pH and iodine in preparation for my first-ever coral frag: pumping Xenia (getting it next Saturday). All additions proceeding slowly, slowly, slowly. My Ca is now 420, alk 3.5 (target is 4) meq and iodine, well..., see below:

BTW, I can't match the colors on my Seachem test kits at all (onset of colorblindness???), so my method is to try to get my iodine test to match (or remain slightly LESS intense than) the reference standard sent in the kit. So far I've added three drops of Lugol's solution over a 5-day period in my 30 gal tank (my first test was ZERO), and my color is still thin, but gaining....

Now I'll watch conditions for the week. AM I ok with alk where it is for Xenia? Most info indicates that Xenia likes it hard.

 

[steve-s]

Be wary with the many myths you will hear concerning Xenia and in fact you'll probabley hear a few more after this post.

Higher alk and added iodine will by no means improve or aid in the keeping of Xenia in any way. It is just as likely to thrive at NSW alkalinity levels and no iodine additions.

Your Ca is fine although your alk IME, is a tad high. I would personally let that drop below 3 mEq/l and maintain the Ca in the 410-420 ppm range. There is absolutley no benefit to having higher than NSW levels in terms of coral care. More often it does more damage than good.

Cheers
Steve

 

[midiman]

Excellent! Thanks. I have READ volumes on the idea that the cause of Xenia "meltdown" was low pH and/or "low" alkalinity.

 

[seaham358]

Why add the iodine? IMO you can do more harm then good if you add too much, and having noting in the tank its not needed.
I have never even tested for iodine in my reef and every thing is fine and you will find most members of the club don't use any iodine replacement either. Doing regular water changes is going to be enough.
Keeping Cal and alk in the correct levels is enough for starters, if you get into stonies then you look ito other additives. JMO2
If I come to the meeting do you want a Kenya tree coral? I have about 50+ of them in my tank... About 2-3" tall, it maybe unmounted so you can stick it in a hole in your lr...

 

[midiman]

Seaham .. I will be there, dark beer in hand. I'll take it! Thanks a lot.

YES YES YES

 

[midiman]

BTW, with respeect to all of my questions about additive, I've been reading the wetwebmedia froum written by Bob Fenner, and over there all they talk about is pH, alk, and iodine.

They attribute cessation of pulsing to pH below 8.3, and meltdown below 8.0, with alk and iodine being contributing factors.

 

[steve-s]

They attribute cessation of pulsing to pH below 8.3, and meltdown below 8.0, with alk and iodine being contributing factors.

Actually there is no direct scientific link to what causes them to stop/start pulsing, hence all the "hype". It's all completely anecdotal.

As far as the alkalinity and pH are concerned, unless you have a cronicly low pH or a heavily stocked tank, there is absolutely no reason to maintain a higher than NSW level. If alkalinity is in the right range it will support the pH as long as the tank is stocked appropriately in considration to waste producers. If so, then pH will regularly stay above 8.0 in the day unless supressed environmentally. Even then, pH will natuarally fall below 8.0 in the early AM due to CO2 production from algaes. The only way to avoid or lessen that is to drip kalk or use a reverse lit refugium with macro algaes.

If you plan on adding scleractinians to the tank in future, the higher chemistry will do them no benefit. They will end up depositing the CaCO3 faster but in doing so the skelatons will be thin and brittle. Often easily damaged and having malformed shapes. Branching LPS and SPS will have thin reedy stalks that will break off easily and typically be quite unhealthy.

You would end up sacrificing the overall health of the tank for the hypothetical observations of one coral. Keep the water parameters healthy, the chemistry within NSW levels and the appropriate light for a given species is for the most part key in keeping any coral. Some require or do better with additional food sources but ther than that it's not in your best interest to add chemicals that you cannot directly link to the corals requirements.

Cheers
Steve

 

[midiman]

Excellent. Thanks again, Steve. They also spoke at length on the FAQs pages about Xenia suffering from being "downwind" of aggressive corals like mushrooms (release of chemicals by mushrooms,etc.). (The people doing the responding on that FAQ forum are Bob Fenner and Anthony Calfo. ??)

I'll keep my parameters within normal limits. I realize that stability is key, and I'm actually getting the hang of it now!!!

I realize that this thread is evolving into something other than my original coralline question. Sorry about that.

 

[steve-s]

They also spoke at length on the FAQs pages about Xenia suffering from being "downwind" of aggressive corals like mushrooms (release of chemicals by mushrooms,etc.). (The people doing the responding on that FAQ forum are Bob Fenner and Anthony Calfo. ??)

Very true. Xeniid's in general are quite week on the chemical defense front and are often the loser in that regard. Makes it easy to control their growth to some degree. You will find in a heavily stocked soft or LPS tank, carbon can often be a saving grace aside from what the skimmer will do. It removes/lessens many of the toxin emitted by corals in defense of their surroundings.

I realize that this thread is evolving into something other than my original coralline question. Sorry about that.

It has remained related to some degree

Cheers
Steve