Green coralline algae??
 

Hey there guys,

I had some green coralline algae growth in my 15g nano and was wondering if anyone knew if it will ever turn pink or purple like some of the other coralline growing on my rock or is it green forever? Also is there any specific reason as to why its green and not the more favorable color of pink or purple?

Different coralline colors are entirely different species. They all thrive in different conditions so whatever conditions are in your tank that prove optimal to a certain variety, that is the variety you will have dominate your tank. I had 5 different colors at one point, but the two that liked conditions most in my tank were green and pink, followed by small areas of purple. Where the green grew, the others did not and vice-versa.

There are many different colors. Green, pink, blue, purple, red, yellow, orange, etc.

Reef1121:

As time passes by, you will notice that the greens gets darker and then in comes the pink and purple coralline algae. Keep up the good work, sounds like you're on the right track. Keep us all posted on your results.

Larry

Thanks for the help guys. My whole back wall was at one point covered in it but I scraped some away and transplanted some purple into its place and its growing nicely now. I wish I could get the other colors.... orange and red sound interesting

I have pretty much every color but orange. I had blue in my 75g, but I tore the tank down, and haven't used the blue rocks in my other tanks, yet.

You put purple in it's place? How'd you do that?

I went to my LFS and took some out of their tank by chipping it off the bottom and glued it on my back wall. And it grew out from there a little bit

That must be some thick coralline if you can chip it off the bottom in a large enough chunk to glue.

That sounds easier than it must've been... My coralline crumbles when I slash it with a blade. Then again, I'm not trying to preserve it when it gets on the front glass.

The whole bottom of their coral tanks is pink and purple coralline that is so thick that it flakes off. I used to work there and noticed it happen every time I cleaned the tanks, so i thought I'd bring some home with me just as a curiosity lol

I'm guessing it is a different species of coralline algae so it is a different color

Question is does anyone know why certain colors will grow in some peoples tanks while other colors wont. My tank grows Purple and green coraline naturally but Ive herd of pink, blue and many other different colors growing in other peoples tanks

Lighting seems to be a lot of it. Also they compete for space and nutrients.

I have a 70 Watt 20k xm bulb over the 15g tank but will soon be switching to a AI SOL blue in preparation to when my 55 DIY tank is finished and up and running within the next 3-5 months

Not sure which light is better for which algae, higher light seems to bleach red in my experience.

Im hoping when my order for the LED's comes in later this month or early next month I can get better blue spectrum along with getting the same intensity as a halide.

Does anyone know how I can get the green variety to grow? It seems like most tanks have purple/pink coralline algae but I don't really like it. I like the green and deep red one.

green coraline
 

find someone who has it put some in your tank like seeding a garden

I have seen blue coralline algae just once around 2 years ago and it was a medium blue to dark blue color. She said it was slow growing and I noticed it was in the bottom of the tank where it might be a low light/deep water species. Either way I would LOVE to have some!

Maybe the local fish store may have some snails or small live rock with some. Best bet, find a friend with some and seed it.

I agree with this assessment. When I had beautiful blue coralline, I had it in a tank with old school regular thick fluorescent tubes. I think it was 1 10k tube and 1 actinic tube. That’s it. Low light level for sure. And, I think the actinic helped a lot.