Is coralline possible without fish when cycling the rock?

FTW-Reef · Dec 13, 2021

As I am planning for starting up either a second tank or upgrading (from a 24g nano to a 125g tanks worthy of a tang), curious if there is a way to spend extra time cycling the rock / aquascape in order to grow out coralline before adding inhabitants.

Since I am not in a rush and also expecting to incorporate elements of a habitat-based negative-space-aquascape, wondering what else I can do to ease the transition of a new / upgraded system. I am hoping there might be some things to do as part of the cycling process so that the rocks look mature at the start (when I add fish / coral).

After building the HNSA, I am thinking to add the liquid coralline spores (from @AlgaeBarn ) and possibly also a vial of coralline (I've seen this available from @TopShelfAquatics

Any suggestions?

Pistondog · Dec 13, 2021

FTW-Reef said:
As I am planning for starting up either a second tank or upgrading (from a 24g nano to a 125g tanks worthy of a tang), curious if there is a way to spend extra time cycling the rock / aquascape in order to grow out coralline before adding inhabitants.

Since I am not in a rush and also expecting to incorporate elements of a habitat-based negative-space-aquascape, wondering what else I can do to ease the transition of a new / upgraded system. I am hoping there might be some things to do as part of the cycling process so that the rocks look mature at the start (when I add fish / coral).

After building the HNSA, I am thinking to add the liquid coralline spores (from @AlgaeBarn ) and possibly also a vial of coralline (I've seen this available from @TopShelfAquatics

Any suggestions?

Is live rock from the gulf an option?
Gulfliverock.com

FTW-Reef · Dec 13, 2021

Pistondog said:
Is live rock from the gulf an option?
Gulfliverock.com

I hadn't seen that vendor before, really like the idea of their "coralline base" rock and will consider it.

On the other hand, I'm also wanting to incorporate design elements for habitat and artistic look that seems like it wouldn't work with existing live-rock from the ocean.

Pistondog · Dec 13, 2021

FTW-Reef said:
I hadn't seen that vendor before, really like the idea of their "coralline base" rock and will consider it.

On the other hand, I'm also wanting to incorporate design elements for habitat and artistic look that seems like it wouldn't work with existing live-rock from the ocean.

Build your rockscape, then add some real live rock around the base. Can't beat the biodiversity.

ariellemermaid · Dec 13, 2021

Personally I wouldn’t worry too much about coraline until the system is established. If you add coraline now you’re going to have to start lighting the tank and that will result in a lot of algae, especially without any inhabitants that eat it. The last tank I built I followed the BRS recommendation to keep the lights off for the first 2-3 months and I never really had a bad ugly phase. I had some glass algae but my CUC mostly took care of that.

Whether to use real rock or bottled coraline is a personal choice. I feel like adding in a bottle of cultured coraline seems like an efficient way to accomplish the goal, pick the color you want, and that’s what I did when I turned the lights on. I’m going for ich eradication and so I wouldn’t want to add ocean rock then have to wait another 45 to 76 days before using the tank. However it sounds like you already have a tank so you could use some of your existing rock to seed it too. Lots of options. But I feel like flipping the lights on and trying to grow coraline right now without a CUC will just result in a tank full of algae instead.