no algae growth?

[upstoday]

Hello guys.

I've got a question for you all. I've just set up a 46gal saltwater tank. And for whatever reason I don't seem to be getting any algae growth, except for the brown algae that grows on the glass.

I have no red algae or green for that matter on my live rock or coral skeletons.

I did end up getting a algae bloom, turned water completly green like pea soup. Got that all cleaned up and everything seems to be running fine. But again still no algae growth.

At the moment all I have in tank are 3 damsels, 1 clown and a dragonheaded goby.

Is there something I'm missing here. Tank is defintley cycled, been up and running for 2-3 months now, and used the pre-cycled sand from the aqua store.

Any help would be appericated.

[jman785]

Red algae, isn't always coralline algae. Coralline isn't always red either.

There are red algae blooms that are bad...and some green ones as well.

Brown Diatoms are a pain, you'll know if you have them, if you see brown specs, and you have to scrub them off ;)

[jman785]

By the way, the 'red algae' your seeing probably is a bloom of red slime or something.

If your tank is more than 6-8 months old, and you see pink and purple variations of 'algae' its probably coralline algae.

upstoday,

Its not always bad to not have algae.

What are your water parameters? As in reading on the water tests.

Also, are you referring to the colorful algae that is supposed to cover your liverock, etc?

[upstoday]

Nah, I have no Live rock in tank. I have rock but it's devoid of any life on it.

I do have the Brown Diatoms which I have to scrub off the glass every couple of days. But the tank does get alot of sunlight where it is, and I'm guessing thats a part of that.

What I'm concerned about, or atleast thought I should be concerned about is the fact that I have no coralline algae in the tank at all. The coral skeletons and the rock I have in the tank have nothing, well mabye a bit of the brown stuff also, but I have 2 snails and cleaner shrimp that seem to be living off that right now.

I just keep hearing about this coralline algae and I'm wondering about why I have not seen any. I am going to test the water again tonight and I will post water lvls after.

This is all very new to me, reason why I'm sticking to damsels right now :)

[upstoday]

Just tested water levels. Everything seems pretty much ok.

PH 8.2, maybe 8.4

Amonia right between 0.0 - 0.25

Nitrite 0.0 - 0.25 Really just tottering over the 0.0 level

Nitrate 20

And Salt content holding at 1.018 - 1.019

Now I am due for a waterchange, tonight or tomorrow morning. So the Amonia and Nirtrites will be coming down a bit.

Everything is pretty much normal no?

[jman785]

upstoday,

If you have just baserock (plain rock), then that's why you have no coralline algae.

You need to buy some liverock from a store or online to seed your baserock, then it'll spread.

Your going to want to keep up on your calcium levels as well to keep coralline spreading like wildfire. If you keep calcium in check, then it'll spread fast.

So how many lbs of baserock do you have?

[upstoday]

lol Ok , well I got one piece of base rock in tank, maybe 4 pounds. I've got decent sized pieces of Coral skeletons in there also.

But that is it, the tank does look a little bare.

It is only a 46gal bowfront tank, so it's not really that large to begin with.

My main reason for asking is because I'm not really clear on how important the algae growth is.

[MikeS]

that depends on what type of algae we are talking about....

If you are referring to the green algae you see popping up in some tanks, most of us consider it a nuisance...but it's necessary if you have snails and other herbivores.

The brown algae is usually a diatom bloom...typical of new tanks and caused primarily by silicates in the water...also considered a nuisance by most.

The red slime algae is actually a cyanobacteria. It comes in different colors, from bright red to maroon to purple to black. It is a nuisance, usually caused by excess phosphates and nitrates in the water. It can be somewhat difficult to remove.

The purple/pink/red encrusting algae seen on live rocks is reffered to as coralline algae...it is good stuff and most reefkeepers do things to promote its growth. Although not "necessary", it does serve the purpose of competeing with undesireable forms of algae for nutrients and space.

Mike

[upstoday]

ahh I see

So for a pretty much Fish only tank it's not a real concern