Pico Tank 2 Gallon Coralline Algae Question

[SirHig]

Hello,

I have a new pico tank (2 gallons) still cycling right now. However, I used Marco rock, and I really want that coralline algae look in my tank. Would it be a bad idea just to get some Purple Helix to put in my tank? I know I could go to my LFS but I really don't have one close by.

Thoughts?

 

[fishski13]

Yeah you can, but its not a process that takes a couple days, I dosed a whole bottle into a 10 gallon cause I got it for free plus I have added multiple frags with coralline already on them and its been about 10 months and I am only now getting sections 2-3 inches across in most areas.

if you dont want to get it cause of the price, getting a frag plug with coralline on it will spread just as fast as the bottled stuff.

 

[Fishineer]

I don't think the Purple Helix stuff is good for a new tank. I agree with getting a frag plug that already has some coralline on it. I think with new tanks it just a waiting game no matter what. Maybe after the first 6 moths to a year the Purple Helix stuff works...

 

[razorskiss]

I used purple helix when starting my 25 gallon with dry rock and live sand and saw dozens of not hundreds of 2-3 mm spots of coralline all over my tank in 6 weeks. I did add some frags at week 4 with coralline on them, but I doubt that contributed much in just 2 weeks. I have been testing parameters religiously (nutrients every 2-3 days at start, now weekly along with ca / alk / mg) and started dosing all for reef once I could measure consumption (about 1 mL / day is enough to maintain levels as stable as the precision of my salifert kits) so the stability and high-ish alk salt I use (TM classic) might have contributed to rapid growth. I'd also added AF life source to the tank twice in that period.

 

[razorskiss]

Oh, it's also a fishless system (only a few snails and hermits added during the green algae phase of the uglies) so I dose NO3 and PO4 to maintain reasonable levels