Coralline algae in a bottle

[Crystal08]

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.

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 always get mixed answers on things but try to get the best consensus to help decide. I just don’t know enough to make an educated decision on most saltwater things

 

[Crystal08]

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

Beautiful tank! I’m struggling with my soft corals getting it right. They are doing pretty good but not really growing at all.

 

[Crystal08]

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

Yea they were live rock and sand.

 

[Crystal08]

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 was trying to speed up the process but didn’t know if that was a great idea or not

 

[Crystal08]

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.

My tank is new so I’m sure it’s not ready to support it to grow on it’s own yet.

 

[BeanAnimal]

My tank is new so I’m sure it’s not ready to support it to grow on it’s own yet.

The fact that you started with live rock means you already have coralline
Spend you time and money on other things and enjoy the system as it matures.

 

[JCM]

Coralline becomes a nuisance quick enough on its own, I wouldn't want to accelerate that process personally.

 

[JCM]

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.

My favorite store around! He always brings cool stuff in, had an awesome marine Betta a few days ago. It's a shame they've gotten so expensive

 

[Not woodyarmadillo]

My favorite store around! He always brings cool stuff in, had an awesome marine Betta a few days ago. It's a shame they've gotten so expensive

I bought a lot of my first corals there. I had been looking around online and was expecting similar pricing. I went in and picked up some really nice stuff for very good prices. I think I paid $20 for a 25+ polyp zoa colony that day.

 

[doubleshot00]

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

It will probably cost the same in the end.

But in reality I wouldn’t chase it. It will come in a rage once it starts.

This is only 6 months.

 

[Crystal08]

Coralline becomes a nuisance quick enough on its own, I wouldn't want to accelerate that process personally.

Oh I thought it was a good thing to have it. Well I guess I can just wait for whenever it shows up then

 

[Crystal08]

It will probably cost the same in the end.

But in reality I wouldn’t chase it. It will come in a rage once it starts.

This is only 6 months.

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Oh even on the glass.

 

[Pistondog]

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

Those spores in a botfle worked great for my tank.
Dont add before 3 to 6 months to let tank mature a little.

 

[JCM]

Oh I thought it was a good thing to have it. Well I guess I can just wait for whenever it shows up then

It's not a bad thing to have. It just becomes a pain to keep off of glass and equipment.

 

[doubleshot00]

Oh even on the glass.

Yeah that area that doesn’t have coralline is because that Gorgonian was taller. So i hacked it back. And those new dots are within the last 4 weeks.

 

[doubleshot00]

It's not a bad thing to have. It just becomes a pain to keep off of glass and equipment.

This. I need to scrape it off my overflow as it’s taking it over now.

But algae cant grow on coralline so the more the merrier.