Coraline Algae In bottle

[CarChase]

anyone ever use this stuff? If so did it work?

 

[Geebs19]

Good read on it here
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coralline-algae-introduction.348947/page-11

 

[Kellie in CA]

I tried both the purple and the pink. Did absolutely nothing for my tank.

But ever since I switched to LED lighting I haven't been able to grow coralline.

 

[Geebs19]

I tried both the purple and the pink. Did absolutely nothing for my tank.

But ever since I switched to LED lighting I haven't been able to grow coralline.

Thats odd, I added a couple snails with coralline and im starting to see it on my rocks, the snails were added 2-4 weeks ago

 

[SEMA]

Coralline doesnt tend to start proliferating until about the 3 month mark. Givin there was adequate biomass of coralline added day one with consistant parameters and enough water flow.

A trick to get certain species (colors) of coralline to grow is to grind the coralline into a fine dust in tank. It spreads the spores quickly. I dont suggest doing this until your past the algae cycles.

 

[SEMA]

Never used the product posted or heard of success mentioned about it. I wonder how they keep it alive in a bottle. It has almost the same requirements as many corals. So technology might be at the point where I can bottle corals up and put them on the shelf?

 

[cristata.reef]

Honestly, I'm pretty sure that the product is just calc/alk in a bottle that may or may not actually have coralline spores

 

[SEMA]

I could see that happening. Gluconate calcium will be absorbed at a faster rate for coralline algae. Purple up, liquid reef, a few other products contain gluconate calcium

 

[dantimdad]

Gluconate calcium is the key if you want to kick start it.

Get a scraping from a healthy, disease free tank. Grind it up into a powder. Dose purple up (or equivalent) and put the powered Coralline in the tank.

I have done this for years and it works every time.

As stated above, wait for the uglies to subside first.

 

[CarChase]

Thanks for the advice, according to the manufacturer the product has a 14 day shelf life so they bottle when the product is ordered to keep algae alive. It’s only sold online. Just ran some tests and have the following results:
Alk: 9.1 dkh (Hanna checker )
pH: 7.8 (salifert)
Calc: 400 ppm (API)
Mg: 1320 ( Red Sea )
Any coraline seen on the rock is what was on it when I purchased the rock. Most of the tank was bare rock.

 

[dantimdad]

PH is low. That could be a big hindrance in and calcium based growth.

 

[Waynerock]

I got a bottle in June and had no coraline in my tank. Now my stuff is gettin covered. It took a few but once it started it really took off. I got a bottle of pink and just got another last week. You have to have rock solid parameters and even a 3 degree swing in temp will kill or make the spores go into a hibernation. Here is a powerhead that had nothing less than a month ago and I used the pink coraline alge in a bottle end of June. For 15.00 it’s a pretty cheep experiment and I see it working.

 

[Jo P White]

I used two bottles of it in my tank. I already had some coralline growing but I definitely feel it helped the coralline spread and take off. They bottle it a couple days before you receive it, it has the bottling date and must be used within a couple days. You’ll clearly see little floating spores on the bottom of the bottle, so it’s not just calcium and such like most supplements claiming to help coralline growth.

 

[Thoms_here]

You could buy a small rock with good coraline coverage and give it a good scraping in front of a powerhead in the tank. I would shut down the main pump first and let it settle somewhat in the tank then turn everything back on. A lot of fish stores will give you some starter cultures as well as friends and especially from reef club members. Good luck!

 

[Arcticfirefighter]

I put a bottle of the Purple Helix in about a month ago, and I had zero Coralline algea. I also added one snail with some on its shell, and it has started to take off. My bottle actually came with a dime size piece of rock in it that was covered in coralline algea. Stuff works as far as I am concerned, I have the spots all over the place now

 

[Crimsonphoenix]

I used a bottle at 4 months and put in a shell with some cor algae on it. I noticed 1/4 inch dots growing after 3-4 weeks.