Dosing ARC Reef Coralline Algae for a small tank

[EastonsReef]

Hello!

I have a bottle of the pink and purple ARC Reef coralline algae arriving today and have some questions regarding dosing. My tank has roughly 10 gallons of water volume and the two 8oz bottles are designed to treat about 10x that. While their website says you cannot overdose this product, something tells me that dumping both bottles in the tank is a bad idea.

My current thoughts are to dose 2 ounces of each (25 gallons worth), wait 4-7 days, dose 2 ounces of each again, wait an additional 4-7 days, dose 2 more ounces of each and then either trash or give away the remainder. As far as storage, I plan on refrigerating between uses.

Has anyone else done similar or have suggestions?

 

[Jekyl]

Also factor in the displacement of the sand and rocks in the tank. A 10 gallon tank may only have 7-8 gallons of water.

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

Hello!

I have a bottle of the pink and purple ARC Reef coralline algae arriving today and have some questions regarding dosing. My tank has roughly 10 gallons of water volume and the two 8oz bottles are designed to treat about 10x that. While their website says you cannot overdose this product, something tells me that dumping both bottles in the tank is a bad idea.

My current thoughts are to dose 2 ounces of each (25 gallons worth), wait 4-7 days, dose 2 ounces of each again, wait an additional 4-7 days, dose 2 more ounces of each and then either trash or give away the remainder. As far as storage, I plan on refrigerating between uses.

Has anyone else done similar or have suggestions?

Their site says you have 21 days to use it all. You'll need to up your dosage.
https://arcreef.com/product/coralline-algae/
Your tank will be seeded with coralline algae when you add corals and CUC. The bottled stuff isn't really needed.

 

[EastonsReef]

Also factor in the displacement of the sand and rocks in the tank. A 10 gallon tank may only have 7-8 gallons of water.

This is factoring that in. The total volume is 13.5. I measured the water I added when setting up the tank. Thank you for checking though!

 

[Fish Fan]

The instructions from ARC say that you have 21 days to use the product. And from their instructions (linked above):
"1 bottle is needed for every 50 gallons of water volume (including sump). You cannot overdose with this product as our product contains only live algae spores and beneficial bacteria. We do not add calcium or magnesium so no water parameters are affected by use. If your tank is 9 gallons or less please use 1/2 to 3/4 of a bottle. If your tank is 10-50 gallons use one full bottle and 1 additional bottle for every 50 additional gallons.

If a tank is underdosed it will still seed coralline spores but it will take a significantly longer timeframe to achieve the desired results."

I don't believe there is any concern at all about adding too much of the algae spores. This product also says it contains nitrifying bacteria, and my one tiny concern is that too much bacteria could result in a bacterial bloom that can quickly deplete the tank of oxygen. However, I don't think that's a large concern, and since the instructions say over and over again that you can't overdose, I would go ahead and use both bottles in your tank. Or, use half of each bottle and share the rest with another reefer. I don't know if dosing it over time would help as this algae can take months to start growing, even with this product.

I might ask if this is a brand new tank, and is it cycled? Do you have any livestock at all? In very new tanks, coralline doesn't grow well, so it may be months before you see any results.

Many here on R2R would call this product "snake oil" and say that you don't need it. I've personally never used it, but this product specifically may have some real benefits, unlike many others that do not contain the algae spores, and are just adding things like calcium and magnesium that Coralline needs to grow.

Since you already have the product on order, I'd go ahead and use it. Good luck!

 

[EastonsReef]

Their site says you have 21 days to use it all. You'll need to up your dosage.
https://arcreef.com/product/coralline-algae/
Your tank will be seeded with coralline algae when you add corals and CUC. The bottled stuff isn't really needed.

While the coralline will come, it's already been ordered and I'd like to help jump start the process.
With 21 days to use it all, I'll have to check the bottling date when it arrives. I'm not too worried about not using it all since its more than enough.

I'll observe after the first dose and seeing no issues I may increase the second amount. Thank you for the reply.

 

[EastonsReef]

The instructions from ARC say that you have 21 days to use the product. And from their instructions (linked above):
"1 bottle is needed for every 50 gallons of water volume (including sump). You cannot overdose with this product as our product contains only live algae spores and beneficial bacteria. We do not add calcium or magnesium so no water parameters are affected by use. If your tank is 9 gallons or less please use 1/2 to 3/4 of a bottle. If your tank is 10-50 gallons use one full bottle and 1 additional bottle for every 50 additional gallons.

If a tank is underdosed it will still seed coralline spores but it will take a significantly longer timeframe to achieve the desired results."

I don't believe there is any concern at all about adding too much of the algae spores. This product also says it contains nitrifying bacteria, and my one tiny concern is that too much bacteria could result in a bacterial bloom that can quickly deplete the tank of oxygen. However, I don't think that's a large concern, and since the instructions say over and over again that you can't overdose, I would go ahead and use both bottles in your tank. Or, use half of each bottle and share the rest with another reefer. I don't know if dosing it over time would help as this algae can take months to start growing, even with this product.

I might ask if this is a brand new tank, and is it cycled? Do you have any livestock at all? In very new tanks, coralline doesn't grow well, so it may be months before you see any results.

Many here on R2R would call this product "snake oil" and say that you don't need it. I've personally never used it, but this product specifically may have some real benefits, unlike many others that do not contain the algae spores, and are just adding things like calcium and magnesium that Coralline needs to grow.

Since you already have the product on order, I'd go ahead and use it. Good luck!

Thank you!

I've looked on their site and I'm not sure how I've missed that final line. I'll do half a bottle of each and give the rest to a fellow reefer in my area. Thank you again for your input

 

[Fish Fan]

Thank you!

I've looked on their site and I'm not sure how I've missed that final line. I'll do half a bottle of each and give the rest to a fellow reefer in my area. Thank you again for your input

Because it was at the very bottom under the FAQ's I think is where I saw it.

Good luck!

 

[BryanM]

I am very skeptical unless this place only does sales direct.

It would be nearly impossible to manage shelf life this short otherwise.

 

[Fish Fan]

I am very skeptical unless this place only does sales direct.

It would be nearly impossible to manage shelf life this short otherwise.

Yes, I think it would be wise to order this right from ARC. And from their website info:

"Coralline Algae in a Bottle is available only online. You won’t find it on the shelves of big chain stores because it is a live product and has a shelf life of only 21 days. Most marine bacteria will not survive more than a few weeks without oxygen and a source of energy. This is the reason for the effectiveness of this product. Every order is bottled fresh and does not sit on a shelf for a year."

 

[EastonsReef]

I believe they bottled it for shipping. I ordered through Algae Barn Thursday morning and they didn't ship out until Monday. I'll find out this evening what the bottling date was and update here for any others who may come after.

 

[EastonsReef]

Received both bottles yesterday, packaging was good but the ice pack had thawed along the way. Inside of the box it was insulated and still cool so no worries there.

Yes, I think it would be wise to order this right from ARC. And from their website info:

"Coralline Algae in a Bottle is available only online. You won’t find it on the shelves of big chain stores because it is a live product and has a shelf life of only 21 days. Most marine bacteria will not survive more than a few weeks without oxygen and a source of energy. This is the reason for the effectiveness of this product. Every order is bottled fresh and does not sit on a shelf for a year."

Expiration dates were both in August (believe it was 8th and 12th, will edit this post with actuals) so it doesn't quite line up with their shelf life stance. Since each were different I suspect these weren't bottled immediately upon order but lesson learned, for anyone else who follows just order straight from ARC for, hopefully, best results.


I dosed half of each bottle and a bottle of Fritz Turbostart I had ordered with them. Remainder I placed in refrigeration. All three contain beneficial bacteria and while I have no algae bloom yet I'm expecting it. Angled one of my outtakes to disrupt the surface tension to add a little oxygen back in the tank just in case. Since I expect to see purple coralline over the next few months regardless of dosing I'll be watching for the pink to see if the bottles worked as intended.

My tank only has an astrea and nassarius currently (brave soldiers who have weathered the ammonia) and will be getting my water tested today or tomorrow and, assuming ammonia is gone, will be adding a clownfish, copepods, and an invert or two more.

Something worth noting, I'm not setup for this but it would be interesting to run a test on coralline algae growth using these products vs not to see how effective it is. Maybe one day I'll be able to run this 3-6 month project (although I won't feel bad if someone beats me to it)