How do you get purple coraline algae to grow?

[JVS__RAMBO]

I have some live rock in the tank that has some(I bought them with it) but nothing else. I have what I think is green growing on the rocks. The tank is about 2 to 3 months old.

[carey]

It takes ahwile to spread but I promise it will. As long as you have some in the tank already you should be ok. It took more than 2-3 months for mine to really take off but now that it has, its on everything. LOL

Some people dose with purple up to help, I use it maybe once a week but can't testify if it actually works or not. But it can't hurt.

[Grizz]

you can scrape some of the algae from the rocks and let it float it will spread faster this way

[DJLiquid]

It soooo easy! Your going to wish you didn't wish for it later... That stuff grows like any other algae ands covers everything from your heater to any tubes...
Here are the steps...
1. Make sure the only water your using for top off and with your initial mix is R.O. or distilled
2. I know you have some already but get some more shavings of coraline from your local fish store (lfs) and dump them in your tank
3. Make sure the calcium levels are at optimum levels by adding Purple Grow (I think that's what it's called) or other calcium boosters
4. They thrive with actinic lighting. I would recommend that you use actinic in the back of your tank and 50/50 in the front otherwise you'll be scraping off the front glass all the time and its hard stuff.
5. You can pm me your address and I'll be glad to ship some off to you if you don't have an lfs nearby.

[JVS__RAMBO]

Thanks for the help. Iwill check with my local fish store if they will give me some, otherwise I will contact you. Thanks again

[deepseadan]

Some of coralline observations I've made over the years are
1. My tanks with the shimmer effect (halides & led) have had much more aggressive growth vs my t5's and pc's. I disagree with others that say light isn't a major factor since coralline grow underneath overhang etc. There is still light reflected of the substrate etc.
2. When I used c-balance from two little fishes as calcium / mag / stron supplement, I also had more aggressive growth vs other brands including purple up.
3. Also over the years, I've noticed more coralline growth when I have put my skimmers on a 12 hour on / off schedule, and an even larger increase when I installed a large refugium with micro algae and stopped skimming and using carbon all together.
4. And last but I feel my biggest observation was literally uncontrollable coralline growth when my nitrates and phosphates hit true zero in my latest tank with my large fuge with miracle mud and lots of micro algae competing for nitrates and phosphates.

These are just my experiences, but I'm sure others have gotten it other ways. I never seeded it in any of my tanks, and I had / have multiple colors as well.

[Heera]

My tank has been running for 6.5 months since last month Coraline algae have taken off. It's getting everywhere.

All this actually started when I was running freshwater tank light on it. All i added was regular calcium with waterchange. New lights are speeding things up. One rock had red slime algae. Its now overlapped with purple.Rocks are turning purple overnight literally.

So I say just wait till u hit the 6 month mark. It will be everywhere.

U will be sorry u asked for it.

[johnmaloney]

Originally Posted by dabeyta3

Some of coralline observations I've made over the years are
1. My tanks with the shimmer effect (halides & led) have had much more aggressive growth vs my t5's and pc's. I disagree with others that say light isn't a major factor since coralline grow underneath overhang etc. There is still light reflected of the substrate etc.

it depends on the species, but for the pink and purple encrusting coralline species normally found in the hobby I agree with you. Some species just bleach in bright lighting, Peyssonelia species were this way for me at least.

[classklown90]

careful on your calcium dosing, you dont want to overdue it. but like most said wait 5-6 months from the date you started it and you will start to see it alot, more so on your powerheads and rocks, it will eventually spread to your backwall and glass unless scraped off

[Ace_te]

You really have ti wait till the yank matures. It will grow everywhere.I also agree with scraping it of, so it will spread faster. Also make sure your calcium is at an optimum level because that's how they grow.

[bavass]

just make sure your calcium, magnesium levels are at the right levels. Also some say that phosphates and nitrates hender the growth.

[ChizerBunoi]

One day your tank will be completely covered by coraline algae. You will then notice it start to die off and bleach out. At this point, you will start to understand the water chemistry of calcium/alkalinity/magnesium better.

Other times, the coraline will plate so fast that it chokes your corals (e.g., zoas) and kill them off. Boy aren't these the good times.