Coralline algae in a bottle

[BeanAnimal]

Frag seems to be the consensus

It will come on anything live from another system (frag plug, snail, sand, rock, whatever).

Keep your Alk/Ca/Mag balanced (and on the higher side) and it will come on its own a few months in. You don't need to seek it out or find a specific piece covered in it.

 

[neonreef3d]

Anyone recommend using coralline algae in a bottle to a fairly new tank or no? Doesn’t have to be this one. Just wondering in general if it would be good or not to add. Thanks

View attachment 3088106

just get some snails at your lfs that have coralline algae on the shell.They will go everywhere in your tank, and scrape their shells against rocks and everything else, and that is how I seeded my tank with coralline algae.

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

Go down to your LFS and hand pick your clean up crew . Normally you will find crabs and snails with it already on their shells . But in my experience and opinion it won't spread until your tank has settled and matured. Took mine about a year now it's caked everywhere which is kinda an issue

 

[MnFish1]

It is simply ground up aragonite in a bottle. Useless.

The downside is that your are pouring money down the drain.

I'm curious - how do you know (what it contains)? As you read in my post - I'm not advocating the product. It does have 280 reviews with a 4 star rating. It must be selling for some reason?

 

[MnFish1]

For @Crystal08. Welcome to R2R - and here is an article from Bulk reef supply discussing the issues involved with coralline algae FYI: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cont...lline-algae-in-your-aquarium-the-simple-truth

PS - though they say 'products'are not necessary, they also sell it lol

 

[StatelineReefer]

I'm curious - how do you know (what it contains)? As you read in my post - I'm not advocating the product. It does have 280 reviews with a 4 star rating. It must be selling for some reason?

ARC reef once explained how they grow it, bottle it, and ship it. literally it was 'we grow a little bit on ceramic, aragonite, and plastic composite pieces, and ship it and the water from the grow tank in the bottle you get.

Sounds a lot like a frag plug full of coralline to me.

 

[TokenReefer]

Some run their Alk high, some run it low. With the salt that I use, I keep my alk around 7.6 to 8. The Coraline grows very fast and everywhere. When I ran a high alkalinity at 8.5 to 9 no Coraline.

I've not heard the correlation between high alk and it's slow growth. Interesting . Thank you

 

[BeanAnimal]

I'm curious - how do you know (what it contains)?

Just read the patent:
7,565,883

It is merely calcium and aragonite and the aragonite is in a form that does nothing more than the sand or rock in your aquarium (no matter what silliness is in the patent claims). You are spending $10 on a tiny bottle of weak calcium supplement.

As you read in my post - I'm not advocating the product.

You indicated that it helped (or seemed to). I responded in context, not accusing you of anything. If one considers dosing calcium helping, then sure.

It does have 280 reviews with a 4 star rating. It must be selling for some reason?

It's magic - you pour it in and coraline appears that would appear anyway. People think it did something so they give a review accordingly. Similar to your thoughts that it may have done something.

 

[Not woodyarmadillo]

So far most comments recommend a frag with some on it. So I think that is probably the way to go. Thanks

Your profile says Burleson, if you’re from Burleson TX so am I! I recommend this place called Fish Paradise in Fort Worth, tons of coral there and excellent prices. Just make sure you dip good, I’ve seen some hitchhikers on their frags. It’s only about a 15 minute drive for me.

Also lots of coralline algae in their tanks.

 

[jsker]

I've not heard the correlation between high alk and it's slow growth. Interesting . Thank you

Your welcome. To reiterate, it depends on the salt.

Parameters can very in the Ocean
Ca 400
Mg 1300
Alk 7.8

I personally tested the gulf of Mexico water off Ana Maria Island and this what I came up with, I run my Mg higher but this what I shoot for.

 

[Crystal08]

just get some snails at your lfs that have coralline algae on the shell.They will go everywhere in your tank, and scrape their shells against rocks and everything else, and that is how I seeded my tank with coralline algae.

Sounds like a good idea, thanks

 

[Crystal08]

Your profile says Burleson, if you’re from Burleson TX so am I! I recommend this place called Fish Paradise in Fort Worth, tons of coral there and excellent prices. Just make sure you dip good, I’ve seen some hitchhikers on their frags. It’s only about a 15 minute drive for me.

Also lots of coralline algae in their tanks.

Yes I’m in Burleson and go to fish paradise regularly. My visit there started me on the path of getting a saltwater tank. I’ve bought several things there. Not sure if I got anything with too much coralline algae but at the time I didn’t know what I was looking for. Still probably don’t lol

 

[Crystal08]

Go down to your LFS and hand pick your clean up crew . Normally you will find crabs and snails with it already on their shells . But in my experience and opinion it won't spread until your tank has settled and matured. Took mine about a year now it's caked everywhere which is kinda an issue

My tank isn’t that old yet. It’s an upgrade from a smaller tank we had going 6 months.

 

[cwerner]

Man, everyone is saying don't do it, but I bought one of those when my tank was newer and it worked pretty great for me. Few weeks after seeding I started getting growth all over.

 

[ReefDreamz]

The Coralline Algae In A Bottle product contains actual live coralline algae spores and it does work if you follow the instructions. I added 4 bottles of the pink and 4 bottles of the purple to my ~200 gallon system about a month after cycling. It took a while but now I have quite a bit of both red and purple Coralline growing.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Man, everyone is saying don't do it, but I bought one of those when my tank was newer and it worked pretty great for me. Few weeks after seeding I started getting growth all over.

I can't speak to other brands, but the "purpleup" is just saltwater with calcium and fine sand.

If I sell you a "toast bracelet" and you put bread in the toaster and out pops toast... is the toast the result of the bracelet, or was the bread going to become toast anyway?

 

[BeanAnimal]

The Coralline Algae In A Bottle product contains actual live coralline algae spores and it does work if you follow the instructions. I added 4 bottles of the pink and 4 bottles of the purple to my ~200 gallon system about a month after cycling. It took a while but now I have quite a bit of both red and purple Coralline growing.

View attachment 3088286

All of that coral, sand and rock (assuming that they were live) that you put in your tank contained those spores too

 

[Not woodyarmadillo]

I can't speak to other brands, but the "purpleup" is just saltwater with calcium and fine sand.

If I sell you a "toast bracelet" and you put bread in the toaster and out pops toast... is the toast the result of the bracelet, or was the bread going to become toast anyway?

Quite the analogy

 

[cwerner]

I can't speak to other brands, but the "purpleup" is just saltwater with calcium and fine sand.

If I sell you a "toast bracelet" and you put bread in the toaster and out pops toast... is the toast the result of the bracelet, or was the bread going to become toast anyway?

I have no doubts I would have grown coralline eventually from the frag plugs and live sand. However if this speeds up the process I see no harm in it. Technically we don't need nitrifying bacteria in a bottle either, but spending several months on a tank cycle is not often done anymore either.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I have no doubts I would have grown coralline eventually from the frag plugs and live sand. However if this speeds up the process I see no harm in it. Technically we don't need nitrifying bacteria in a bottle either, but spending several months on a tank cycle is not often done anymore either.

I don't know that it speeds it up or what products have what amount of living coralline in them...

Corraline (like anything) needs specific conditions to grow. You could likely pour gallons of the stuff in a newish tank and nothing will happen because the surfaces are not in a state to support the growth.

Example - I tossed a dry carib sea aragonite rock (grapefruit sized) in the tank a month or so ago. It got diatoms... then a green algae coat. The rest of the rock (20+ year old system) has coralline. The new rock will not have coralline for several more months. It is not ready to support it. When it is, it will spread quickly.