Comments on: March / April CORAL – Charles Delbeek Speaks the Truth

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:04:47 +0000

I have a blue-lightbox background in my tank… I hear from alot of naysayers that it’s a waste of time because it will get covered in coraline… I look at it as motivation, since the coraline spots are an eyesore with the background thankfully coraline grows slowly in my tank due to low nutrients.

By: MFR

MFR — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 03:21:00 +0000

True, that TOTM tank looks awesome & the corals do pop but, I only have 24″ W to work with. I actually grow corals off my back pane. If I had a wider tank I could have that back open & get in there & scrub. For now, I don’t mind the back being used as a growth pane.

Best,

By: Cadu

Cadu — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:24:01 +0000

I am also with the ones who hate coralline algea on the glass panes.
I scrape them off at first sight of their appereance.
As the glassbox my tank was bare bottom and when I got tired of the dirty look of the bottom pane covered with coralline I scraped all off and added sand.
You know the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder but … I can’t stand coralline everywhere.

By: Chase M

Chase M — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 21:01:46 +0000

i feel not scraping the back glass helps maintain microalgae for my tang and angelfish. Also the coraline algae has grown to the point of covering almost the entire back pane, so it is not all splotchy. I dont think it is “wrong” not to scrape it since it is more of a subjective, aesthetic choice and doesnt seem to have a negative impact on the animals living inside the tank.

By: mcliffy2

mcliffy2 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:21:53 +0000

@ MFR: check out this tank and tell me if you still feel the same: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2009-03/totm/index.php

The problem IMO is that the corals blend in with the background and you can’t focus on the colors. In the wild, you see clear blue yonder as the backdrop for corals, so I’ve never understood the argument that a corraline backdrop is “natural.” A clean blue or black background much more accurately portrays what is natural, IMO.

In the end, I can agree its possible that some people really do like the aesthetics of corraline on their walls, but I also think a lot of people convince themselves they like it because they don’t want to scrape the glass.

@ SunnyX – Considering the growth you get with corals, thats amazing. We need your secret

By: Sonny(SunnyX)

Sonny(SunnyX) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:03:09 +0000

Thankfully I am one of those reefers who has NEVER been able to even grow a single dot of purple on my glass. It grows nicely on my rock work, but never on my glass.

By: MFR

MFR — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 03:39:13 +0000

hmm…I love a fresh and clean front and sides but, I dig the background being covered naturally. Why bother with a solid background color when you can have a psychedelic masterpiece with encrusting algae & corals? If I had a four sided visual tank I can see the need to keep all sides clean but, absent that I only worry about the visible sides.

By: alfred

alfred — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:06:40 +0000

I totally agree. I went from a BB with starboard to a SSB just so I don’t have to see the coralline on the bottom.

I’ve also ‘scaped my new build such that a piranha magnet cleaner with an ez-blade has plenty of room to do the hard stuff for me.

By: Richard - Salty

Richard - Salty — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:59:19 +0000

I have been using a mag flip which is working really well. Sounds like a great article I can’t stand coralline on my glass as it does make the aquarium look “dirty”

By: Mike Clifford

Mike Clifford — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:14:31 +0000

Ps for reference this is on a 238g tank.