Corraline Algae

[cheeks69]

First off, coralline algae is NOT entirely photosynthetic (BIG misunderstanding by alot of people). You don't REALLY need a powerful light source to encourage coralline growth. You need a starting point.

Don't really understand what your saying here, either it is or it isn't, I say it is photosynthetic. Although I agree that you don't need a powerful light source to have corraline you do need light !

Fourth thing, IF you have a protein skimmer on your nano...get rid of it. There's nothing written in stone that says a protein skimmer is the answer to all problems. Believe it or not, if you do two things regularly...you'll never go back to a skimmer. Just change 10% every other day which is like...3 or 4 full drinking cups and top it off when it needs it, you'll be fine. Skimmers rob the water of all sorts of minerals; minerals such as calcium that encourage ALL sorts of beneficial growth. And if you have a skimmer that is way bigger than what meant for your tank, then you'll probably never see coralline growth in your tank ever. Well, that's not true but trust me...I know.

Although a skimmer can remove elements including calcium these are easily replenished by regular water changes and kalkwasser or whatever you choose to maintain cal/alk. To get rid of nuissance algae you need to remove dissolved organics and a skimmer is very effective at doing this and will increase your oxygen levels which are vital in nano tanks with such a small volume of water, although you may get by without a skimmer the benefits outweigh the negatives IMHO.

[Snelly40]

i agree, dont go skimmerless!
if anything, turn ur skimmer off, scrape some coraline off the rocks and let it float around for a few, then later on turn ur skimmer back on, this can help spread it around

[fragfinder]

Just my 2 cents corraline algea loves blue light more limewater cal ,ihave some orange corraline algae i would like to see spread in my Bc.also read this on garf.

[lcstorc]

My tank is proof that a large skimmer does not stop corraline growth. I have a skimmer rated for almost 3 times my water volume and I have corraline everywhere. I do have MH lighting and I also keep my calc at good levels.