removing coralline algae
 

His tank is actually very healthy. He doesn't have a jungle of corals but
the ones he has placed are doing very well. I wish he had a pic of it on
his site.

B


"Steve" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 08 Jul 2006 04:40:02 GMT, "Bryan" wrote:

A pet store near me has an awesome show tank with no coralline on any of
the
glass. On my way out a month back I asked him how he does it. He said
something to the effect that his multiple clams and other calcium
absorbing
species and rocks keep the glass clean for him. I need to go back and
clarify but I thought I'd give you his info.

If you run a tank that is calcium deficient the corallines stop
growing before the corals do. A lot of calcium users kept in a system
with inadequate calcium addition will produce exactly this effect.
There is detail on this in Delbeek and Sprung Vol 3.

Steve

removing coralline algae
 

On Sat, 08 Jul 2006 16:19:12 GMT, "Bryan" wrote:

His tank is actually very healthy. He doesn't have a jungle of corals but
the ones he has placed are doing very well. I wish he had a pic of it on
his site.


Yes the corals can be healthy and growing despite sub-optimal calcium,
I've done this myself, and had tanks with corals doing OK despite no
coralline at all. It just strikes me as a bit odd intentionally
keeping SPS corals in water with less than sea water Ca
concentrations, somehow I enjoy striving to replicate nature, and
think it's a good general principle. And I wonder a little about what
the margin of safety is in those tanks I suppose, how do you guarantee
your Ca stays stable at that 300ish no coralline level, or just dives
at some point, unless you have a buffer zone above minimum
requirements. Maybe I'm taking a simplistic approach, I just see
reefkeeping as trying to replicate NSW and maybe that's old-fashioned.
Hey, I measured my Ca last night out of curiosity, 380, could do
better IMHO. Acropora and a Tubastraea (that we recently brought back
from near death ex dealer) look happy though, me I'd like to see 400
in there if I do get in a numbers mood :-).

Steve

removing coralline algae
 

Nice tank
--
See my web site
http://web.tampabay.rr.com/myreef/

"Xerces" wrote in message
news:aAQrg.128819$S61.23256@edtnps90...
I like to keep the sides clear but love the yellow polyps on the back glass
of my tank

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...f/DSC01301.jpg

Beats the heck out of those fugly pictures on a roll.

:D

removing coralline algae
 

Xerces wrote:
I like to keep the sides clear but love the yellow polyps on the back glass
of my tank

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...f/DSC01301.jpg

Beats the heck out of those fugly pictures on a roll.

I have a solid light blue background on my tank. If I decide I don't
like it, I can always let the coralline algae take over again.