The Ultimate Coralline Algae Guide

Coralline Algae is a type of  Algae found throughout the oceans that calcified in order to grow. It is classified under the order of Corallinales. It is generally a desirable algae in home aquariums and its presence is an indictor of maturity. It can be introduced by seeding your aquarium with a small piece of coralline. It can be introduced from coral frags, piece of live rock or even on the shells of certain invertebrates.

Coralline Algae is a crucial part of natural reef systems and it makes our home aquarium mimic the ocean. It can grow in different ways but usually in our aquarium we find it encrusting over surfaces. Glass, rock and even pumps. There are different species of coralline that grow in different patterns and come in different colors. They can be red, pink but are mostly purple. On natural reefs its incredibly important in cementing reefs together and providing safe places for corals to grow.

Many things eat coralline including sea urchins. We actually keep them in our corals beds to keep coralline under control as it grows like nuts.

There are some products designed to help encourage the growth of coralline in your aquarium. You can try red sea Coralline gro   or carib seas purple up

Growing coralline is great sign of tank health and maturity and once it starts to grow its usually safe to add sps corals to your tank. Its a sign of balanced water chemistry.