Arc reef coraline, two bottles okay?

[JPG Corals]

I have a 10 gallon AIO. I purchased the two bottle kit of purple and pink coraline algae from arc reef. (One bottle treats 50 gallons) am I okay to dose both bottles in full? I know it says you cannot overdose, just curious if this is excessive? Is more merrier? Thanks

 

[blaxsun]

Haha, I think you have about 10x what you need.

 

[bnord]

it is a lot more than you need

Might want to think about experimenting a little and add half now and refrigerate and add 25% at 2 week intervals...

 

[JPG Corals]

Haha, I think you have about 10x what you need.

Agreed. Any thought if I should just add them both in full...?

 

[JPG Corals]

it is a lot more than you need

Might want to think about experimenting a little and add half now and refrigerate and add 25% at 2 week intervals...

Thanks for the suggestion. Are you saying add 50% of one bottle or 50% or both? Thanks.

 

[blaxsun]

Agreed. Any thought if I should just add them both in full...?

I'd sell one bottle, add 25% of the other and refrigerate (as was suggested).

 

[Mr Fishface]

It may be more than you need but I don't thinking adding both bottles would hurt. With the spores it also has nitrifying bacteria which, as far as I know, is never hurting anything to overdose. Your tank can only use x amount of bacteria at any given time so whatever is extra just dies off and doesn't get used. If your tank is pretty young you could add small doses over a period of time to get your bacteria really established, but if your tank is cycled and already doing fine with livestock I would just dump both bottles in.

 

[JTP424]

I got super excited when I first started my 15 gallon and added both bottles.
Didn't harm anything, but I probably wasted some money in the process, (due to normal water changes) don't think it sped up anything too quick.

 

[EricR]

Keep in mind ARC Reef markets this as freshly-bottled, live spores, meant to be used immediately. I think the shelf life is like 3 weeks, so maybe use half then the other half a week or two later.

Probably has some calcium/magnesium supplement in the bottle but I doubt enough to worry about, especially if this is a new tank.

I'd say, ideally find someone to split it with and use half of each bottle for each person.

In reality, it probably doesn't matter much...

 

[radfly]

If your tank is not aged eight or so months and stable, then your product will yield no results.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

I have a 10 gallon AIO. I purchased the two bottle kit of purple and pink coraline algae from arc reef. (One bottle treats 50 gallons) am I okay to dose both bottles in full? I know it says you cannot overdose, just curious if this is excessive? Is more merrier? Thanks

You can use both in your aquarium however you will want to make sure you are giving them the right environment for the spores to thrive and might need to closely monitor your nutrients, calcium, alk, temp, and salinity. DO NOT refrigerate if you are not going to use all of the spores at once and keep it mind there is a best by date printed on the bottle that is around 2 weeks- Raven

Here is a little snippet on care from the manufacturer's website:

• Aquatic life loves stability and so does coralline algae. Try to keep your water parameters stable through regular monitoring and water testing. Smaller more frequent water changes are preferred over larger less often water changes, this helps eliminate any shock to your system.
• Keep your nitrates <5 ppm.
• Keep your Phosphates <0.25 ppm.
• Keep a stable pH level between 8.1-8.3 (when testing for pH, it is important to always test at the same time of day as pH levels fluctuate with the light cycle)
• Keep a stable KA level of 2.8 meq/L for alkalinity or carbonate hardness (the concentration of carbonate and bicarbonate). Your level can be +/- up to 0.14 meq/L. Having a correct KA level in your tank will also have a stabilizing effect on your pH, which will keep your fish happy (although your crabs may still be crabby).
  
  
  

  Coralline Algae - The Ultimate Guide | ARC Reef

  Everything you need to know about red, pink, purple, and green coralline algae. Learn the different saltwater coralline algae types, and how to grow it fast

  arcreef.com

 

[JPG Corals]

It may be more than you need but I don't thinking adding both bottles would hurt. With the spores it also has nitrifying bacteria which, as far as I know, is never hurting anything to overdose. Your tank can only use x amount of bacteria at any given time so whatever is extra just dies off and doesn't get used. If your tank is pretty young you could add small doses over a period of time to get your bacteria really established, but if your tank is cycled and already doing fine with livestock I would just dump both bottles in.

My tank is roughly 5 months old, cycled with live rock and live sand. Tank seems stable as I do have corals and livestock for about 4 months. I do ~20% WC once to twice a week.

I got super excited when I first started my 15 gallon and added both bottles.
Didn't harm anything, but I probably wasted some money in the process, (due to normal water changes) don't think it sped up anything too quick.

Glad to hear you had no ill effects. I couldn't resist I wanted both bottles. Did you see good results?

Keep in mind ARC Reef markets this as freshly-bottled, live spores, meant to be used immediately. I think the shelf life is like 3 weeks, so maybe use half then the other half a week or two later.

Probably has some calcium/magnesium supplement in the bottle but I doubt enough to worry about, especially if this is a new tank.

I'd say, ideally find someone to split it with and use half of each bottle for each person.

In reality, it probably doesn't matter much...

As stated above tank is 5 months old. I did use half of the pink bottle and refrigerated. I will prob wait a week or two and just add the second bottle of purple in full. Appreciate the input.

You can use both in your aquarium however you will want to make sure you are giving them the right environment for the spores to thrive and might need to closely monitor your nutrients, calcium, alk, temp, and salinity. DO NOT refrigerate if you are not going to use all of the spores at once and keep it mind there is a best by date printed on the bottle that is around 2 weeks- Raven

Here is a little snippet on care from the manufacturer's website:

• Aquatic life loves stability and so does coralline algae. Try to keep your water parameters stable through regular monitoring and water testing. Smaller more frequent water changes are preferred over larger less often water changes, this helps eliminate any shock to your system.
• Keep your nitrates <5 ppm.
• Keep your Phosphates <0.25 ppm.
• Keep a stable pH level between 8.1-8.3 (when testing for pH, it is important to always test at the same time of day as pH levels fluctuate with the light cycle)
• Keep a stable KA level of 2.8 meq/L for alkalinity or carbonate hardness (the concentration of carbonate and bicarbonate). Your level can be +/- up to 0.14 meq/L. Having a correct KA level in your tank will also have a stabilizing effect on your pH, which will keep your fish happy (although your crabs may still be crabby).
  
  
  

  Coralline Algae - The Ultimate Guide | ARC Reef

  Everything you need to know about red, pink, purple, and green coralline algae. Learn the different saltwater coralline algae types, and how to grow it fast

  arcreef.com

Thanks for the reply, I used half the pink bottle then refrigerated, did this compromise the bottle? I meet half the parameters, with my nitrates a little high around 15ppm(api) and dKH at 10(hanna). I do regular 20% WC once to twice a week. Do you think the product is still beneficial?


Picture currently of my tank

 

[JTP424]

As far as my results go... I believe it helped stabilize a few things. It's been over a year now and the tank is still going strong.