Coralline Question

dare2dv8 · #1 10-21-2012, 09:53 PM

Can someone tell me what the benefits of having Coralline in my tank are? I have lots of it, it's spreading on to new rock I've introduced and I have an Urchin that likes to mow it down. Is it more of an aesthetic thing or does it actually provide something to the system that's biologically beneficial?

Also, I'm a little confused because I've been dealing with my phosphates being a little high but I've been reading today that coralline doesn't grow when phosphates are present in elevated amounts. I'm using a Nutrafin test kit with the results coming in at 2 mg/L. It's the only test kit at my lfs so I don't have the ability to cross check with a different test. Doing weekly 10% water changes + a couple of 20% thrown in for good measure don't bring the levels down. I don't believe I'm over feeding and I've tested the water source which comes out at 0 for phosphates.

Sorry two questions here which makes the title a little misleading.

dare2dv8 · #2 10-21-2012, 09:56 PM

And the second question is...are my phosphate level something I should be concerned about?

cale262 · #3 10-22-2012, 12:13 AM

Here's some very light reading on the subject that may answer your question.

http://www.algone.com/articles/saltw...oralline-algae

cale262 · #4 10-22-2012, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dare2dv8

And the second question is...are my phosphate level something I should be concerned about?

If its zero then no, nothing to worry about :wink

tim the toolman · #5 10-22-2012, 12:18 AM

Great article thanks for the read.

daniella3d · #6 10-22-2012, 02:11 AM

no benifit and it is ugly and look dirty, so I get rid of it anytime I see it on my glass.

It block the pores from the porous rock, making it useless for filtration.

It just consume good element from the water so I would say it is far from being beneficial.

I just remove it when ever I can and I do not tolerate even a tiny bit of it on the glass, not even the back glass. When it grow on my pumps, I scrape it off.

dare2dv8 · #7 10-22-2012, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cale262

Here's some very light reading on the subject that may answer your question.

http://www.algone.com/articles/saltw...oralline-algae

Thanks for the article just what I was looking for.

dare2dv8 · #8 10-22-2012, 03:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cale262

If its zero then no, nothing to worry about :wink

Along with water changes I tried a phospate filter that as far as I can tell made no dent in level. What are peoples thoughts on Phosban?

Aquattro · #9 10-22-2012, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniella3d

no benifit and it is ugly and look dirty, so I get rid of it anytime I see it on my glass.

It block the pores from the porous rock, making it useless for filtration.

It just consume good element from the water so I would say it is far from being beneficial.

I just remove it when ever I can and I do not tolerate even a tiny bit of it on the glass, not even the back glass. When it grow on my pumps, I scrape it off.

It's a good thing you don't own my tank! You would have to give up sleeping to keep up with it

My left side pane is so thick, I can't even scrape it with a Kent scraper.

Personally, I kinda like it. I'm also lazy, so even if I didn't like it, it would still be there.

kien · #10 10-22-2012, 05:47 AM

I am a big fan of coraline on live rock. Purple in my opinion is prettier than tan and brown.

If you want to make a dent in your phosphates try running GFO (Granulated Ferric Oxide) in a phosban reactor like the Two Little Fishes reactor. I myself have been running a Rox brand GFO for quite some time now.