Best coralline algae product? I am looking to dose my aquarium.

JCTReefer

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I am not looking to introduce anything new into the tank just to take a chance at them bringing in coralline algae.
And that is exactly why I buy WYSIWYG corals. It’s pretty obvious if a corals plug is encrusted with coralline or not. No chance taken. It’s guaranteed. Good luck. If you happen to have a Reefing friend with coralline on their glass. Scrape it off with a razor blade and bottle it. That’s your best chance if you must have a product in a bottle. Lol!!!
 

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Sure, if I can do that then awesome. But I can't, hence the purpose of the entire thread.
Can’t do what ?

I’m sure the lfs would gladly scrape a little coralline .
or buy a piece of rock with some on it ,
Scrape it before adding to your dt .

without favourable parameters it will not grow ....
This is where time and stability come in
 

fuelman

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I used the arc brand both Pink and purple. it took a few months but then it exploded into basically pest level growth lol. I regret not letting it just find it's way in from snails & such.
 

Snookin

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Go to LFS ask for a few empty snail shells with coralline algae growth. Take them home, dip in coral dip to prevent pests if that’s your concern with adding anything to tank and smash with a hammer in bag into pieces. Sprinkle all over tank. Coralline will take off if parameters are in line.
 

Rmckoy

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There was a post about this a few days ago

everyone wants it , and will do anything to get it .
until it starts growing everywhere .
Once it starts , there is no stopping it
 

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Zoa_Fanatic

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100% would not bother with ANY product. Keep the tank stable and get some scrapings from a friend. Just make sure if you want one specific color to only get that color scraping. I’ve got some red coraline I really like and the purple keeps trying to out compete it.
 

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Azedenkae

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Can’t do what ?

I’m sure the lfs would gladly scrape a little coralline .
or buy a piece of rock with some on it ,
Scrape it before adding to your dt .

without favourable parameters it will not grow ....
This is where time and stability come in
Can't do exactly what I quoted from your post, i.e. I can't get 'some scrapings of coralline algae from a established system'.
 
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Azedenkae

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And that is exactly why I buy WYSIWYG corals. It’s pretty obvious if a corals plug is encrusted with coralline or not. No chance taken. It’s guaranteed. Good luck. If you happen to have a Reefing friend with coralline on their glass. Scrape it off with a razor blade and bottle it.
I’m sure the lfs would gladly scrape a little coralline .
or buy a piece of rock with some on it ,
Scrape it before adding to your dt .
Go to LFS ask for a few empty snail shells with coralline algae growth.
Keep the tank stable and get some scrapings from a friend.

Let me just respond to all four of you guys at once.
1. I can't get to a LFS at this point, the closest one is still far too far away and it's not something feasible for me.
2. I don't have a friend who I can go over to scrap some coralline off of their tank either, and unless they live really close, same as above, can't go off to their place.
3. I want a more guaranteed method, and one that is not troublesome in case that matters. Even with WYSIWYG corals, firstly it has to have coralline algae showing, then it has to be certain that the retailer's WYSIWYG is truly WYSIWYG, and we all know that that's not always the case, and then of course, it has to be a matter of a coral I'd actually want in my tank. Or otherwise it'd be a case of getting something home, then tossing the coral and keeping the plug or whatever which... is not something I want to do.
4. I totally would not mind some coralline algae sent to me if that's something someone can do.
5. Failing that, I want a bottled coralline algae product, and if it turns out they don't work, then I just won't bother with even trying.

Hope that resolves some assumptions you guys have about what I can or can't do. I mean, I did make this thread with a very specific question for a reason. If I could easily go get some coralline algae from someone else I would have.
 
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Azedenkae

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Arc reef worked for me lol I used the pink one and it’s growing on rocks and pumps and yes it’s pink
I used the arc brand both Pink and purple. it took a few months but then it exploded into basically pest level growth lol. I regret not letting it just find it's way in from snails & such.

Good to know, thank you guys. My question though, given that someone else did say they had no luck with the Arc products, is that is there any confounding factor you guys might have had that could have resulted in the presence of coralline algae? Could they have been introduced in some other way?

With @dvgyfresh the algae that grew was the same color as the bottle, what about you @fuelman? Did you get both colors? I presume both of you guys had no coralline algae prior to dosing with the bottles?

Sorry for all the questions. I don't brush off experiences, whether it is a 'yes' or 'no', and of course there are so many factors in play with our aquariums, that there could always be something else affecting the results, and I just want to remove as many other possibilities as possible to arrive at a conclusion.

Thank you!
 

Anthony Scholfield

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I have experience using the ARC corraline algae. I used it in two systems and im a believer in the outcome. If youve never used it dont comment. This stuff is not snake oil.

My first system i let things happen naturally over time and yes i did get corraline algae eventually. It works that way but its much slower.

I set up two new systems about a year ago and decided to try the arc stuff because i was doing a dry rock setup. I added the ARC after a couple months of cycling and nothing else. I had corraline growing before i knew it and it grew rapidly all over. Now it is thick all over. It worked very well and i would use it again. I bought both bottles and added them both (pink and purple).
 
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I have experience using the ARC corraline algae. I used it in two systems and im a believer in the outcome. If youve never used it dont comment. This stuff is not snake oil.

My first system i let things happen naturally over time and yes i did get corraline algae eventually. It works that way but its much slower.

I set up two new systems about a year ago and decided to try the arc stuff because i was doing a dry rock setup. I added the ARC after a couple months of cycling and nothing else. I had corraline growing before i knew it and it grew rapidly all over. Now it is thick all over. It worked very well and i would use it again. I bought both bottles and added them both (pink and purple).
Very interesting.

If I may, can I ask if you have anything 'live' that you introduced during the process, aside from bottled bac if any? Live sand, etc.? Any cuc, corals, etc.?

Did you end up getting both colors?
 

rhostam

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Im not sure about best, but I used ArcReef and followed instructions. Coralline algae showed up at precisely the estimated time frame.

On the other hand, my tank isn’t a closed system with no changes made during the growth period. I introduced some mushrooms that had coralline algae on the plugs as well as a few turbos with it growing on their shells before and after I dosed the ArcReef dual algae spores.

Which was responsible? Who knows? Don’t care. I’ve spent more on a few pizzas. I generally prefer multiple angles even if it leads to a little more spend.
 

Anthony Scholfield

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Very interesting.

If I may, can I ask if you have anything 'live' that you introduced during the process, aside from bottled bac if any? Live sand, etc.? Any cuc, corals, etc.?

Did you end up getting both colors?
I used dry rock, "live" sand from caribsea, bacteria and ammonia for cycle. They were fishless cycles. I added the ARC at about 3months (was doing a 4month cycle) Corraline started to grow after that.

I do have variations in the color of the corraline yes.
 

Townes_Van_Camp

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Arc Purple worked for me. I have never introduce anything that had coraline into my fish only tank, other than a snail maybe. Its a 3 year old tank, only maintenance was water changes. I decided to use purple arc so I dosed up mag, cal, and alk to 1350, 45, 10.1 respectively, then ordered, received, and dumped it in the tank (according to the directions). Within days I saw spots, they are spreading.
 
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I used dry rock, "live" sand from caribsea, bacteria and ammonia for cycle. They were fishless cycles. I added the ARC at about 3months (was doing a 4month cycle) Corraline started to grow after that.

I do have variations in the color of the corraline yes.
Arc Purple worked for me. I have never introduce anything that had coraline into my fish only tank, other than a snail maybe. Its a 3 year old tank, only maintenance was water changes. I decided to use purple arc so I dosed up mag, cal, and alk to 1350, 45, 10.1 respectively, then ordered, received, and dumped it in the tank (according to the directions). Within days I saw spots, they are spreading.

Thank you both! I just want to remove as much confounding factor as possible, and both of your experiences seem to point towards the bottled coralline algae working as expected. In both cases the tank was devoid of coralline, and then saw a lot of growth after so seems like it would indeed work.

Still curious about people's experience when it does not work, but so far I am leaning towards being confident that bottled coralline algae (from Arc Reef specifically) should work.

Gonna look into buying a bottle and see. If it works, I will be a 100% convert. XD
 

Townes_Van_Camp

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Thank you both! I just want to remove as much confounding factor as possible, and both of your experiences seem to point towards the bottled coralline algae working as expected. In both cases the tank was devoid of coralline, and then saw a lot of growth after so seems like it would indeed work.

Still curious about people's experience when it does not work, but so far I am leaning towards being confident that bottled coralline algae (from Arc Reef specifically) should work.

Gonna look into buying a bottle and see. If it works, I will be a 100% convert. XD
Seriously make sure that your mag, cal, alk, ph, etc are good enough for corals/match your salt mix at a minimum before you order the stuff. It does have a shelf life, a short one. Also, if those parameters aren't good enough for coral, they aren't good enough for Coraline algae
 

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Good to know, thank you guys. My question though, given that someone else did say they had no luck with the Arc products, is that is there any confounding factor you guys might have had that could have resulted in the presence of coralline algae? Could they have been introduced in some other way?

With @dvgyfresh the algae that grew was the same color as the bottle, what about you @fuelman? Did you get both colors? I presume both of you guys had no coralline algae prior to dosing with the bottles?

Sorry for all the questions. I don't brush off experiences, whether it is a 'yes' or 'no', and of course there are so many factors in play with our aquariums, that there could always be something else affecting the results, and I just want to remove as many other possibilities as possible to arrive at a conclusion.

Thank you!
my tank was dry rock out of the box rinsed in rodi & bb 240g. i added it as soon as the tank was cycled, it struggled with the ugly stage for about four months but when all my levels started to stabilize, i had nothing up to that point. then started noticing spots all over the rock, floor of the tank, the glass, power heads. at about 7-8 months it was growing out of control lol. nothing in my tank grew as well as the coralline at that point. it seemed the purple favored the rock & the pink liked the floor & the powerheads no clue why. but it worked, if anything too well.
 

elysics

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If scrapings and snail shells "may or may not work", then a bottle is the same. Your tank either supports their growth or it doesn't. If it does, corraline will show up no matter what unless your tank is completely sterile, if it doesn't then it really doesn't matter what you dump in, it won't grow until the situation changes.
 

Snookin

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Let me just respond to all four of you guys at once.
1. I can't get to a LFS at this point, the closest one is still far too far away and it's not something feasible for me.
2. I don't have a friend who I can go over to scrap some coralline off of their tank either, and unless they live really close, same as above, can't go off to their place.
3. I want a more guaranteed method, and one that is not troublesome in case that matters. Even with WYSIWYG corals, firstly it has to have coralline algae showing, then it has to be certain that the retailer's WYSIWYG is truly WYSIWYG, and we all know that that's not always the case, and then of course, it has to be a matter of a coral I'd actually want in my tank. Or otherwise it'd be a case of getting something home, then tossing the coral and keeping the plug or whatever which... is not something I want to do.
4. I totally would not mind some coralline algae sent to me if that's something someone can do.
5. Failing that, I want a bottled coralline algae product, and if it turns out they don't work, then I just won't bother with even trying.

Hope that resolves some assumptions you guys have about what I can or can't do. I mean, I did make this thread with a very specific question for a reason. If I could easily go get some coralline algae from someone else I would have.
Then why start a thread guy? Just buy a bottle of ARC and write a review of your experience in a few months. You obviously want a bottled product for coralline so just buy one.
 

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Personally, I tried them all and nothing worked. My dry rocks stayed pretty much green/brown for a good part of 3 years, got small patches of purple from live rocks, scraped them, glued them, spread them seed them, nothing took off

Calcium has been bwteern 400 - 450. Alk between 7 to 8.

Then I realized the secret sauce - pH..

My tank used to be 7.7 - 7.8. After I learned about the impact of pH on calcification, I did all the recommended solutions and increased my pH to 8.2 - 8.3. Alk and cal also increased a little bit to 9 and 470. After I did that within 3 months my entire tank turned purple, including the back glass. Now I have to scrape them off.
 

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