coraline algae

When I got my tank it was used and came with a ton of rock.
Unfortunatly all the rock was "dead" since the tank had been broken
down for a while. Since I can not afford to buy all new live rock I
figured I would use the old rock and add a few pieces of new live
rock. So the 2 new pieces I bought are very pretty and covered in
purple/red coraline algae. Is there anything I can do to encourage
this to spread to my other rocks? I noticed for a while that there
were small patches of it starting on the other rock, then the green
micro algae came in and took over. Any thoughts?

I had my skimmer off for a while but the green algae went nuts so i
have turned it back on and unfortunatly I can't run just my actinics.
any other suggestions?

I think what keodog meant was to turn off the skimmer for a couple days after adding coralline "powder" otherwise the skimmer may remove it.

In addition to answering the question of why you can't separately turn on just blue/actinic lights, can you describe your tank a little more?
Lighting, Alk, pH, Ca, and what inverts (coral, crabs, shrimp, snails, urchin, etc.) you currently have?
Size and age and what "green algae went nuts" would also help.
Of course, a pic is worth another thousand words...

Have you yet seen the appearance of green Coralline algae?
Have you added any LS or water from another reef tank?

Mark is on target with his input, or at least I agree at any rate.  Some GARF Grunge to seed your rock probably wouldnt hurt either.  That is some pretty cool stuff. 

I only have one balast so its all or nothing unless I took out the full
spec bulbs and put in 2 more actinics.
so i have 4 VHO's, pH 8.1, dKH 10, Ca i have no idea. I have no
corals, i sally lightfoot, 2 cleaner shrimp, 2 peppermint shrimp, 1
serpent star, no snails cause they always die (yes i have looked into
this but no one can figure it out), and a bunch of hermits. No fish,
see no ich post for more details on that.
The green algae is that bright to dark green stuff that looks like a
poder when removed from the glass.
At this point I am hesitant to turn off the protien skimmer since it's
been off for a while, see ich post. I have not added anything from an
established tank because I don't have one available. Just my 2 live
rocks i bought at the LFS. ( i think that answered all the ??)
What is this GARF that you speak of?

If you like, you could come and get some good chunks from my tank as I have it all over the back glass of my tank.  My tank started the same as you describe.  I had several pounds of old dead live rock, and I seeded it with a few pieces of live rock.  The base rock started to get a green algae of sorts growing on it and then the coralline algae took over.  This did take awhile though, probably several months (that was over 4 years ago when I was getting it started).  Also I would not worry about cleaning it off unless it is more than the hard green stuff that grows on the glass.

Djangoboots, As promised over the phone, here's a pic from my friends 180 with VHO lighting (4 - 4 foot tubes) just like yours, except that we put two additional Normal Output Actinics over it. As you can see, the colors are bright and the coralline grows very well.



The water used for this tank is not R.O./D.I. but is not tap water either. Top off is automatic.

We also gave it an RDP Refugia. The only thing we do is feed the tank, do a 10% water change every 2 - 3 months, and cut the coral when it needs it about 3 times per year

Your tank is very new, so in time, with the energy and attention you appear to devote to it, I'm positive it will look more and more like this.



That is a full shot of it. The water looks a little too bright in this pic because of the reflection of light from an unusual amount of suspended organic particles. This happens every time I remove a bunch of Caulerpa from the Refugia.

Don't forget, Bristleworms are our friends. Here is a pic of one of the three huge bristleworms that I told you about. They appeared in this same tank one night last year and went over and down the overflow to the refugium, where they probably reside to this day!

That's a photosynthetic branching Gorgonia. It's visible in two places in the full tank pic. It grows pretty well even under several tubes of NO fluorescent. Would you like a frag? It's free.

Here's a pic with a little better view of it.

Oh yea it will do alright!

BananaTropics wrote: Mark, do you think it would do well in a 30 gallon with 175watt MH and 130watts actinic pc? Thanks -Adam

Mark,
From what I have told you about the state of my tank, how long do
you think I should be running my lights. I had them on a 10h
schedule, but then the guy who does all the local tank maintinence
for the LFS said to cut it back to 4 hr per day. This isn't going to
encourage that growth i need though. right. oh and you will be
happy to know that i measured under my tank and i can fit another
10g under there (it'll be VERY tight) so i think after the new year i
will work on getting that refugium running. still can't seem to picute
how the plumming will work. oh and another thing i found someone
local (well 2 hrs away from me ) who impots LR and sell for 4.99 lb! I
am stoked!! Those pics are wonderfull, maybe next time you're in SC
you can come work on my tank! LOL!!