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

Dkmoo

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Also, just like gha, cyano, and dinos. Chances are, coraline "seed" is already in your system.

Also, not all bottles have "seed" in them. Ie, the Kent purple up is just a alk/cal booster. Other coraline kits do contain live seed, but again, they won't take off unless your tank has the appropriate growth conditions for calcification
 
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Azedenkae

Azedenkae

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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.
Yes I think it is very obvious I want to buy a bottled product, I think I made that very clear.

Yet a thread was still necessary, because I wanted to see what people's experience with bottled coralline algae products are. Keyword is 'experience'. Because despite what I want to do, I wanted to nonetheless know if it might at least be worth my time, because the other option is of course I would just do nothing.

But those are the two options for me right now, buy a bottled coralline algae product, or do nothing. So all other recommendations are irrelevant.
 
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Azedenkae

Azedenkae

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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.
Oh I absolutely do think scrapings and coralline algae on snail shells will work fine. I just can't obtain scrapings at the moment, and coralline algae on snail shells obviously depends on if I can get snails (or other inverts) with coralline on their shells, which is where the 'may or may not work' comes in. I don't want to risk ordering more and more inverts just to have a chance at one of them having coralline algae is the point.

Nothing to do with whether coralline algae once introduced will actually take off or not, different point to the thread entirely.
 
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Azedenkae

Azedenkae

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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.

Thanks for the info. I guess in your case yeah it won't be clear if the product worked or not. But you are right, in the grand scheme of things it doesn't cost that much lol.
 

Calm Blue Ocean

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Unfortunately I didn't have any luck with the ARC Reef coralline algae in a bottle. I tried it twice, once probably a month after my tank cycled, and again back in February. I tried both the pink and the purple. Nothing, zero. Before trying it I scoured these forums for reviews and experiences, and I'd say it definitely works for some people. And it definitely doesn't work for others. I'd say all you can do is try.

The only other option for purchasing coralline algae that I know of is from IPSF. They sell a plate covered in coralline algae to seed your tank. Not sure what kind of results people have had with this product and I had been considering it myself at one time but have since added a lot of frags and snails with coralline on them so I'm no longer in the market.

There are sometimes people here on the forums offering up coralline scrapings from their tanks just as another option you can watch for. Good luck!
 
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Azedenkae

Azedenkae

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Unfortunately I didn't have any luck with the ARC Reef coralline algae in a bottle. I tried it twice, once probably a month after my tank cycled, and again back in February. I tried both the pink and the purple. Nothing, zero. Before trying it I scoured these forums for reviews and experiences, and I'd say it definitely works for some people. And it definitely doesn't work for others. I'd say all you can do is try.

The only other option for purchasing coralline algae that I know of is from IPSF. They sell a plate covered in coralline algae to seed your tank. Not sure what kind of results people have had with this product and I had been considering it myself at one time but have since added a lot of frags and snails with coralline on them so I'm no longer in the market.

There are sometimes people here on the forums offering up coralline scrapings from their tanks just as another option you can watch for. Good luck!
Oooh thank you so much for sharing your experience! Good to know there's also plates covered in coralline algae sold, that is something very different. Unfortunate that there is no experience to base decisions on with that product though. D:

But does give me additional food for thought.

Hm. Can I ask by the way, if you did eventually end up seeing coralline algae growing in the past three months? Anything you introduced (live stock-wise) that might brought with it coralline algae?
 

kaylajoy

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You can just buy coralline algae, either the plate for ipsf or from somewhere like live-plants.com

Then crush some of it up and put it in the tank, and you have the same thing as the bottled product except you can actually inspect it and tell if it's alive and growing.
 

Rmckoy

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You can just buy coralline algae, either the plate for ipsf or from somewhere like live-plants.com

Then crush some of it up and put it in the tank, and you have the same thing as the bottled product except you can actually inspect it and tell if it's alive and growing.
In the end ...
I believe it really doesn’t matter what source used to introduce it ,

so what happens if you introduce some and there is nothing to support it ?
does the bottled stuff work , or is scraping better ?

when the system is ready to successfully grow coralline algae , it will grow
 

Calm Blue Ocean

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Oooh thank you so much for sharing your experience! Good to know there's also plates covered in coralline algae sold, that is something very different. Unfortunate that there is no experience to base decisions on with that product though. D:

But does give me additional food for thought.

Hm. Can I ask by the way, if you did eventually end up seeing coralline algae growing in the past three months? Anything you introduced (live stock-wise) that might brought with it coralline algae?

Snails and frag plugs that already had coralline on them are covered now but still very little beyond the original sources. A splotch here and there. I have some ugly green coralline growing on my back glass. One astraea snail that started with just a bit of coralline is now almost all 1980s neon Barbie doll pink. So it's starting to expand but no "explosion" yet. My nano has lots of thick reddish purple coralline that came from a Kenya tree frag. I've never seeded that tank beyond adding that frag.
 
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Azedenkae

Azedenkae

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Snails and frag plugs that already had coralline on them are covered now but still very little beyond the original sources. A splotch here and there. I have some ugly green coralline growing on my back glass. One astraea snail that started with just a bit of coralline is now almost all 1980s neon Barbie doll pink. So it's starting to expand but no "explosion" yet. My nano has lots of thick reddish purple coralline that came from a Kenya tree frag. I've never seeded that tank beyond adding that frag.
Very interesting, thank you!
 

shred5

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Oooh thank you so much for sharing your experience! Good to know there's also plates covered in coralline algae sold, that is something very different. Unfortunate that there is no experience to base decisions on with that product though. D:

But does give me additional food for thought.

Hm. Can I ask by the way, if you did eventually end up seeing coralline algae growing in the past three months? Anything you introduced (live stock-wise) that might brought with it coralline algae?

Wrong something like IDSF plates other than getting some from a local reefer is about the only way to almost guarantee to get some to grow. You would have to mess that up pretty bad. There are lots of people who have used IDSF and they have been around forever. Something in a bottle can not guarantee anything because something can only live in it for so long and who know how long it has been on a shelf or how it was handled.

 

MaxTremors

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Yes I think it is very obvious I want to buy a bottled product, I think I made that very clear.

Yet a thread was still necessary, because I wanted to see what people's experience with bottled coralline algae products are. Keyword is 'experience'. Because despite what I want to do, I wanted to nonetheless know if it might at least be worth my time, because the other option is of course I would just do nothing.

But those are the two options for me right now, buy a bottled coralline algae product, or do nothing. So all other recommendations are irrelevant.
So, from your build thread, you have corals and real (maricultured) live rock, which means there’s basically a zero percent chance there isn’t already coralline algae in your tank. If it’s not growing already, your tank is either too new, or the parameters aren’t adequate.
 

coralfishreef

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I’ve used Arc reef before and it felt like it worked, but it still took months for coralline to grow.

If it had been 100% my choice I wouldn’t have paid $$$ for multiple bottles of Arc reef, but instead picked up some cheap or free frags encrusted with coralline. Near Boston we have several trustworthy, old school reefers that sell nice frags for $5 or less. I know the local reefers would be willing to scrape off some coralline for free and even give away some seed bacteria and chaeto.

I’d recommend saving the $$ and picking up some cheap frags or free scrapings from a local Chicago club member with a pest free tank.
 

TheDragonsReef

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Honestly id personally avoid going out of your way to grow it until it comes naturally, especially if youre new to the hobby. Coraline adds a lot more maintenance to glass and pump cleaning and takes up a lot of alk/cal/mg. Eventually youll add a snail, hermit or coral with some Coraline on it and itll just start growing one day on its own.

If you're dead set on growing it the best way is to go out and buy something with coraline already growing on it. Introducing it is the first step and from there you just need good, stable parameters and itll spread quick enough.
 
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Azedenkae

Azedenkae

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I can’t believe someone would pay $17 for someone to put LR rubble with coralline in a magic bullet, blend it up and ship it to their house. Lol. This is great capitalism! Good for the seller
I could also spend $40 on an Uber to go to my nearest (reputable) LFS to get some coralline algae, so $17 to have some delivered sounds good to me.
 

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