Question About Shipping Coralline Algae and Spores

[Thoms_here]

I am getting ready to set up a new 70 gal cube reef tank with "dead" live rock and I would love to be able to have as many colors and types of Coralline as possible.

My question is: Does it ship well? I have seen scrapings of it for sale on eBay for example and was wondering if anyone has ever had it shipped or know someone that has. I can get the more common colors from my reef club friends but I really would like some different colors and different types like the plating ones. I'm sure temperature has an effect and possibly putting oxygen in the bag may help, but I don't know.

What I do know is that I love Coralline algae in a tank in all It's colors and types!

Thank you for any help I can get on this!

Thom

 

[wkscott]

Coraline algae grows differently in each tank. Although there are many colors, they don't all do well under the same lighting. In fact, most coraline prefer lower light levels than many of us have in our reef tanks.
Getting coraline from your friends is the best way, as you have no idea under what lighting the coraline on eBay has been grown and it may dissolve as soon as you put it in your tank.
Shipping with oxygen probably won't help much since coraline algae, like all plants, produce oxygen as their waste product of photosynthesis.