Algae Barn Coralline In A Bottle

George S.

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I'm curious if anyone has used this product and if it works or is it snake oil? Im currently cycling my first tank with Dr. Tim's one and only and came across this product. I haven't seen or heard much about it being used.

 

Viva'sReef

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I used it at the 5 month mark in my tank because I was not seeing any coraline, having started with dry rock it was a concern. I added it and lo and behold about 3 weeks later I started seeing spots of coraline on my back tank wall and on the rockwork. Coincidence? I don't think so anyway
 

Alex Cataldo

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I used it at the 5 month mark in my tank because I was not seeing any coraline, having started with dry rock it was a concern. I added it and lo and behold about 3 weeks later I started seeing spots of coraline on my back tank wall and on the rockwork. Coincidence? I don't think so anyway
Is this 3 weeks after the 5 month mark?
 

Bo.

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Idk GIF

I used it about 8 weeks in. I had coralline starting about 4 weeks later, but that could have come off the turbo snail shell or off one of the frags I got about that time. I figured it was cheap enough that I wasn't gonna be hurt if it was snake oil. I think it bumped me to free shipping wherever I bought it.
 

Mav88

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It works it takes time though. I wouldn’t use it right away. Also when you get some coral or snails scrape the coralline off into the tank, this has the same effect.
 

Alex Cataldo

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Idk GIF
I used it about 8 weeks in. I had coralline starting about 4 weeks later, but that could have come off the turbo snail shell or off one of the frags I got about that time. I figured it was cheap enough that I wasn't gonna be hurt if it was snake oil. I think it bumped me to free shipping wherever I bought it.
I feel like the spores might of died in the bottle, shipiping it in the dead of winter in Wisconsin may not of been the best idea
 

Jekyl

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Coraline won't start to grow until months after cycle. Usually toward the end of the ugly phase. You can seed the tank by scratching some off of a snail into a powerhead.
 

The_Skrimp

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It’s okay. I used the purple helix bottle. It definitely works. I had a few spots of purple to burgundy coraline pop up on the rocks and back wall shortly after using it but eventually the one most dominant purple color took over. To be honest though, just getting a handful of frags and live rock rubble in my sump was enough to introduce coraline to my tank. I doubt it would have taken much longer to get the same coverage on my rocks had I just scraped some live rock.
 

littlebeard

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What are your Nitrates and phosphates at? I used this product and no effect. I would actually have to disagree with their instructions.

It says
Nitrate < 5ppm
Phosphate < 0.25 ppm

Guess what, 0 doesn't grow anything either!

It's not until my battle with cyno and I started dosing nitrate and phosphate that I saw any type of coraline growth.

If I were to start my tank again, I'd buy a nitrate test, phosphate test before the ca/alk/mag and start dosing those. Bare rock is hard!
 

Alex Cataldo

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What are your Nitrates and phosphates at? I used this product and no effect. I would actually have to disagree with their instructions.

It says
Nitrate < 5ppm
Phosphate < 0.25 ppm

Guess what, 0 doesn't grow anything either!

It's not until my battle with cyno and I started dosing nitrate and phosphate that I saw any type of coraline growth.

If I were to start my tank again, I'd buy a nitrate test, phosphate test before the ca/alk/mag and start dosing those. Bare rock is hard!
I think you might be on to something. I was running double zeros with my fuge. Definitely the cause
 

Viva'sReef

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I think you might be on to something. I was running double zeros with my fuge. Definitely the cause
could be the case also. I noticed that when my P04 was running under 0.03 no coralline growth. When my P04 was running at 0.06 is when I started to see the Coraline growth. I can't say for sure that the addition of Purple Helix did the trick but it sure made me feel better when I finally saw some spots pop up lol
 
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OP
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George S.

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Thank you all for the answers provided. I cant add it for a while anyway so once my tank is stable I think at the cost its worth a shot. Id be embarrassed to complain about $40 worth of product even at this stage in the game lol!
 

DaddyFish

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What are your Nitrates and phosphates at? I used this product and no effect. I would actually have to disagree with their instructions.

It says
Nitrate < 5ppm
Phosphate < 0.25 ppm

Guess what, 0 doesn't grow anything either!

It's not until my battle with cyno and I started dosing nitrate and phosphate that I saw any type of coraline growth.

If I were to start my tank again, I'd buy a nitrate test, phosphate test before the ca/alk/mag and start dosing those. Bare rock is hard!
@littlebeard I hear ya !!! I have a FOWLR filled with fat piggy puffers. Nitrate and Phosphate are readily available by swapping 5-gals of water between tanks.
:rolleyes: ;)
 

Roli's Reef Ranch

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I think you might be on to something. I was running double zeros with my fuge. Definitely the cause
Exactly, modern systems are over filtered and bottom out too easily. I run a filter sock and skimmer, or Triton method (skimmer/fuge), all 3 combined will starve out anything in my tanks.
 

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