Coraline growth- Coraline in a bottle?

[Doberman13]

Just wondering if anybody on here has used any of the products that say it is Coraline algae in a bottle? What brand did you use? What was your experience? Do you think it is worth using?

I know patience is key with Coraline I'm just wondering if there's any tricks to help the process. I have heard of getting a frag plug or rock that has some and scrap it off near the powerhead. Do you have any tricks to help it grow?

 

[Steve Burton]

I have used scrapings from other tanks and it always takes off fine

 

[Doberman13]

How much do you typically scrape off and put in the next tank? The frag plug I got from another member only had a few millimeters of Coraline on it

 

[jcook54]

Wow. I'll give you more scrapings that you know what to do with. Basically you just scrape a bunch off from an established tank and throw them into yours. I like to break it up a bit if there are larger pieces but think of the chunks of corraline at seeds. As far as the "Coraline in a Bottle" goes, it's usually just a supplement that contains a balance of additives that coraline likes. As long as your Ca, Alk and MG are at acceptable levels, coraline can grow. I keep my Mg on the higher side (1450-1500) and have never had an issue growing the stuff. Come by the house and I'll send you back with an ounce of the stuff to seed your tank with.

 

[ZapataInc]

Wow. I'll give you more scrapings that you know what to do with. Basically you just scrape a bunch off from an established tank and throw them into yours. I like to break it up a bit if there are larger pieces but think of the chunks of corraline at seeds. As far as the "Coraline in a Bottle" goes, it's usually just a supplement that contains a balance of additives that coraline likes. As long as your Ca, Alk and MG are at acceptable levels, coraline can grow. I keep my Mg on the higher side (1450-1500) and have never had an issue growing the stuff. Come by the house and I'll send you back with an ounce of the stuff to seed your tank with.

Ill take some too. I have some snails that @ActiveAngel gave me that are fully encrusted but nothing new has started to grow in my tank. I haven't tested my Ca, Alk, and MG. I'll test tonight but I dont have MG tester kit. What are some ball park numbers that are good?

 

[Doberman13]

I love southern living aquatics business card on the back they have all the parameters.

 

[ActiveAngel]

I’ll second all advice that was said here.

For coralline growth, you’ll need calcium and alkalinity in your water, a healthy environment, and some initial coralline to start the population. It’s something that many beginners feel impatient with; as the appeal of a purple/colorful rockwork is great. But if you are patient, it will grow and you will have great coverage over the course of many months. It’ll start very slow, and then speed up dramatically. Definitely don’t expect to see result after only a few days.

However, if you are impatient; I recommend doing what Steve suggested. Find a rock covered with coralline, and scrape off as much of the purple stuff into your system as you can. It’ll still take a while, but should provide a huge boost. The downsides with this, however, is money to buy the rock; and also the risk of pests, which can be mitigated by choosing a rock from a clean tank and/or dipping the rock (if you were so inclined).

I’ve used ‘Purple Up’ in the past; but am not sure how I feel about and wouldn’t spend any money on it. I don’t believe it hurts though. So if you have the opportunity for some free product, like I do, and do your research, then go for it!

 

[ActiveAngel]

So if you have the opportunity for some free product, like I do, and do your research, then go for it!

like I *did’

We learn a lot in this hobby from jumping at opportunities for free/discount products.

 

[lmm1967]

Coralline grows like a weed in my 120 - not much else (other than fish) grows very well.

It spreads across the glass almost as fast as algae does right now.

 

[Adam]

Coralline grows like a weed in my 120 - not much else (other than fish) grows very well.

It spreads across the glass almost as fast as algae does right now.

I'm surprised your having problems keeping coral then.
You should try a cheap birdsnest as a starter. If it does well after a few months try something a little costlier. If ya kill it too then we know there's something else we need to look at.

 

[ActiveAngel]

I'm surprised your having problems keeping coral then.
You should try a cheap birdsnest as a starter. If it does well after a few months try something a little costlier. If ya kill it too then we know there's something else we need to look at.

What that tells me is that the issue is not the calc/Alk balance, nor a lack of nutrients.

In my experience, coralline is much more resilient than corals when it comes to other parameters such as light, salinity, temperature, or simply being bothered by other livestock.

 

[Adam]

I'm thinking the same light/placement/flow.

I wish I lived closer to him...

 

[lmm1967]

Or. One of my critters is eating stuff.
Perhaps my foxface or tilefish.


Next experiment. 2 SPS. One in a “net” made from the screen I used for screen tops. The other in the open.

 

[Steve Burton]

I've used purple up, didn't seem to make a difference. Original tank I got a small amount of scrapings off the glass from the nice people at Petco, always just scraped some off of powerheads for the following tanks. Some take off faster, the original 32 biocube has weaker light, it grows like crazy, I have to scrape off the glass constantly. I'd be happy to get some shavings for you. I think a little is as good as a lot once the conditions are right.

 

[enderg60]

High magnesium and calcium levels and a bit more blue light and it will take off. The bottles are BS.

 

[Doberman13]

So I got some Coraline scrapings from @jcook54 and less than 2 weeks later I have two spots growing on my overflow attachment. Seeding with some crushed up Coraline is definitely the way to go