what's wrong with this???

[robin.gordon1]

during a bit of maintenance I moved a couple of small pieces of live rock to
discover that these were covered in a lovely reddish coralline algae but the
surfaces covered but the MH direct light was smothered in hair algae that
has to be removed daily.
surely the coralline should grow on the front face of the rock too. why's
it growing where it cant be admired.

Robin

[Pszemol]

"robin.gordon1" > wrote in message ...
> during a bit of maintenance I moved a couple of small pieces of live rock to
> discover that these were covered in a lovely reddish coralline algae but the
> surfaces covered but the MH direct light was smothered in hair algae that
> has to be removed daily.
> surely the coralline should grow on the front face of the rock too. why's
> it growing where it cant be admired.

Coralline algae does not like too strong, direct light...

[Marc Levenson]

GHA is a real problem in a reef tank. The trick is to get rid of it,
then your coralline will be in full view again:

http://www.melevsreef.com/gha.html

Marc


robin.gordon1 wrote:

> during a bit of maintenance I moved a couple of small pieces of live rock to
> discover that these were covered in a lovely reddish coralline algae but the
> surfaces covered but the MH direct light was smothered in hair algae that
> has to be removed daily.
> surely the coralline should grow on the front face of the rock too. why's
> it growing where it cant be admired.
>
> Robin
>
>

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Kevin M]

"robin.gordon1" > wrote in message
...
| during a bit of maintenance I moved a couple of small pieces of live rock
to
| discover that these were covered in a lovely reddish coralline algae but
the
| surfaces covered but the MH direct light was smothered in hair algae that
| has to be removed daily.
| surely the coralline should grow on the front face of the rock too. why's
| it growing where it cant be admired.
| Robin


I know what you mean. My clown digs up small rocks occasionally, and they're
usually covered with the reddest (is that a word?) coralline I've ever seen.
Apparently, the red stuff grows in low to no light. Too bad, really, I'd
like to see some in plain sight like you. Most species of coralline do best
in low to medium light. The main exception I've seen in my tank is the
purple stuff that grows smooth encrustations. It can completely cover the
rock. If it weren't for the underside still being open, I'd be worried about
the rocks filtration capacity being diminished.

FWIW,
Kev