Coralline Algea and BROWN ALGEA

[KPV]

Hi,

My name is Parker I have been into saltwater fish for a few years now and am starting a reef tank. I have a 120 gallon reef tank that has been running for about 6 months. I have been keeping up on all of my water lvls, calcium, ph, nitrate, nitrite, ect... For some reason i can not get the coralline algea to grow (the purple algea build ups all over the tank). I have metal halides and a chiller so maintaine temp and sufficiate lighting but cant seem to make it grow.

However, My tank is covered in brown algea. Any of my rocks i purchased that had or started to build coralline got covered by the brown algea. How do i get rid of it? How do i get the good algeas back and continue to grow and or grow in an abundant amount???

Please help me if you can. Thank you

[stefalopod]

Hi Parker, and Welcome!

Could you post a pic of your tank and a run-down of yourlevels?

Coraline needs calcium to grow, are you dosing/testing for calcium?
Red/brown algae sounds like a diatom bloom, often contributed to by excess silicates in the water. Are you using RO water?

IPSF sells a coraline algae starter, but you might want to makes sure you have everything it needs to grow. Also I'm sure other folks will mention things I haven't thought of.

Welcome again!
-Stefani

[KPV]

Thank you for the help. Yes, i am using RO water. let me get a picture of my tank and i will post it on here shortly. If you or any one else could provide any more information that would be great. I know several other people looking for the same information as my self.

[Phurst]

A pic will definitely help. You'll have a hard time growing coraline while that other stuff is growing on the rock.

[Missy]

I probably shouldn't comment here because I am VERY new to this hobby BUT I was told to add purpleup when I was curing the rock and it seemed to work (lots of purple on the rock) as well as getting calcium level up to 420. I also am fighting brown algae because I started the tank with some tap water but now that I am using RO water and I did a major cleanup, I think I am winning. Don't you have to chip a little purple off the rock to have it move around and start growing on the wall etc.????

[PhotoJohn]

purple up is a waste of money, its just chemical BS that makes LFS lots of cash. It just takes time to grow. The coraline will eventually grow everywhere, just wait.

[Missy]

I guess I just lucked out with my rock

[CarmieJo]

Hi Parker and to TR.

A lot of things go into growing coralline and it always develops. Soon you will be wishing you had never seen the stuff! You certainly need Ca to have it grow and that is one of the reasons that PurpleUp works; it is a calcium solution. However it is a really expensive way to add Ca to you tank. If Ca and/or alk are low a good 2 part solution like Ocean's Blend will get your Ca and alk to where it should be and be better for your tank. Once your levels are stable you can either use it to maintain or drip kalk. By the way, TR sponsor The Cultured Reef has Ocean's Blend at a very good price.

Getting nuisance algae under control is also necessary. What are your tank parameters? How long are your lights on? Is the tank getting any natural sun light? Are you dosing anything? What and how much are you feeding?