Coralline algae in a bottle? Does it work?

[PegasisR]

is the arc reef coralline algae in a bottle worth it? or is there something else?

 

[Rjukan]

I've haven't seen a definitive yes on the bottled stuff. You're best route is getting live rock with it on it already. I've read that it spreads if you scrape off some of it into the water column.

 

[CC13]

is the arc reef coralline algae in a bottle worth it? or is there something else?

Go to any LFS or fellow reefer that has a reef tank and ask him to 1 dead snail shell from their system with coraline on it. That's all you need to seed your tank. The bottled stuff doesn't work.

 

[maevepotter]

Arc reef does work. I'm seeing several new colors about a month in from putting it in the tank.

 

[User]

Purple up won’t work. It doesn’t contain coralline spores. Just the extra nutrients they need to grow, most of which are doses as part of keeping corals anyway.

ARC coralline contains spores. It legitimately works. Could you get a couple dead snails and scrape some off for free? Sure. Could you scrape up enough to get full coverage of 100lb rock in 4 months? Doubtful. There’s a local guy that went from brs reef saver to complete purple and red coralline in 4 months. Added it the day after he confirmed his cycle was done. And the reviews on amazon support this guys experience

I’ll be adding a bottle of each of the red and purple sometime in February, once I’ve got my levels stabilized and my current QT residents in the tank . I plan to do a full review, with pictures

 

[NefTunzReef]

ARC Reef worked for me as well when I started my tank. It takes a few weeks but you will start seeing Coraline algae patches all over your tank.

 

[Saveafish]

is the arc reef coralline algae in a bottle worth it? or is there something else?

Snake oil.

 

[Saveafish]

Go to any LFS or fellow reefer that has a reef tank and ask him to 1 dead snail shell from their system with coraline on it. That's all you need to seed your tank. The bottled stuff doesn't work.

Plus 1

 

[User]

Snake oil.

Nope.

It works. It contains spores. Which are more effective than taking scrapings.


Purple up is useless though. It’s just nutrients.

 

[Silver14SS]

ARC Reef worked for me as well when I started my tank. It takes a few weeks but you will start seeing Coraline algae patches all over your tank.

My tank is barebottom and I used BRS dry rock. I used 2 bottles of ARC (purple and pink) and coralline is growing on the rocks and bottom. I believe the ARC bottled coralline works, I also recognize that snails brought it to the tank as well.

 

[DarkSky]

A lot of people here claiming it doesn't work without firsthand experience, or know what it is.

There's a lot of misinformation in this hobby, please refrain from adding to it.

 

[lapin]

In my opinion Purple Up is just additives as stated on the bottle

Accelerates desirable pink and purple coralline algae growth
Raises calcium, iodine and other trace elements essential in reef aquariums

As far as getting coralline to grow you do need some spores or scrapping and water that favors its growth. Light is just one of the issues as to why some tanks have it, and in some tanks, it just wont grow. Usually if you want it to grow on rocks, it will grow on your glass. If you dont want it, it will grow everywhere. Murphy's law.

 

[User]

In my opinion Purple Up is just additives as stated on the bottle

Accelerates desirable pink and purple coralline algae growth
Raises calcium, iodine and other trace elements essential in reef aquariums

As far as getting coralline to grow you do need some spores or scrapping and water that favors its growth. Light is just one of the issues as to why some tanks have it, and in some tanks, it just wont grow. Usually if you want it to grow on rocks, it will grow on your glass. If you dont want it, it will grow everywhere. Murphy's law.

ARC coralline contains spores. Works very well.

 

[PerplexyHexy]

It worked for me... I got 2 bottles of purple and one bottle of pink for my xl425... If you follow the instructions, which clearly states that is important for product to work, in 2-3 months you will get a coralline explosion... my tank has been running for a little over 3 months and over 75% of my rock is covered in coralline... I started with 175 lbs of Billys dry reef rock... Its all over my overflow and on the rubble rock and return lines in my refugium... I 100% would say this product worked in my case and would purchase again... ill get some updated pictures today in some good lighting... problem is people are impatient and think this stuff works in a matter of moments and stare at their tanks like its acfually gonna grow in fromt of you... clearly states on bottle takes several weeks, in most cases months at the right temperature, spectrum, and water quality... I used 0 live rock... all dry rock

These pictures were taken at the end of october... My tank officially started running August 3rd... I will get some clearer pictures today... I aint no rep either... I just bought the stuff on Amazon and used it as it said to...
I have it included in my build thread

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dustin’s-sobering-sunshine-build.407109/
Pictures taken just now;

Tanks been up close to 4 months...

 

[Kellie in CA]

I tried both the purple and pink strain bottles.... so $40 worth. 6 months later and I still have no coralline.

 

[User]

I tried both the purple and pink strain bottles.... so $40 worth. 6 months later and I still have no coralline.

That’s unfortunate. How’s your lighting? They like it pretty intense until they get established

 

[andrewkw]

If coraline is not naturally occurring in your system I would wonder what else are you missing. It's just something that happens always in a reef tank at one extent or another.

 

[PerplexyHexy]

If coraline is not naturally occurring in your system I would wonder what else are you missing. It's just something that happens always in a reef tank at one extent or another.

Understood, but this is just a jumpstart to get it seeded quicker in some cases...

 

[CC13]

Understood, but this is just a jumpstart to get it seeded quicker in some cases...

Everyone saying you can't seed your tank with a free snail is 100% wrong. I start every tank with dead rock after a bleach and muriatic acid bath. I add 1 piece of LR and a couple snail shells and my tank had coraline all over the place in months.

Put the snail shell or coraline flake in a high flow area and it will seed the tank in weeks... it will be everywhere.

 

[PerplexyHexy]

Everyone saying you can't seed your tank with a free snail is 100% wrong. I start every tank with dead rock after a bleach and muriatic acid bath. I add 1 piece of LR and a couple snail shells and my tank had coraline all over the place in months.

Put the snail shell or coraline flake in a high flow area and it will seed the tank in weeks... it will be everywhere.

Who said that?