Coralline Algae in a Bottle + Nitrifying Bacteria for Saltwater Aquariums, Purple Helix Strain

WOW is all I can say! It's been several years since I set up a saltwater tank. I knew that it was important to start a tank with a good base of bacteria in order to accelerate the cycling of the tank. Rather than just sitting back and waiting for the process to slowly complete, I did a little research and stumbled upon this product... and I am SOOOOO GLAD that I did! The nitrifying bacteria helped accelerate the cycling process in a big way. I expected to wait a month before the tank would cycle but it completed within just a couple of weeks. Not only that, but there is CORALLINE ALGAE already growing on my rocks! Light pink, dark pink/red, bright green... I'm really impressed with how well my tank is thriving so early on. I visited a friend yesterday whose tank has been running for over a year with Kessell lights and an impressive sump/refugium. My tank is much simpler and is showing more coralline growth than theirs is! From prior experience with salt tanks, I KNOW this is not just a coincidence. I will definitely use ARC Reef's Coralline Algae in a bottle for all future tank setups. Can't wait to see what other products they produce, I'm a fan for life!

Fantastic shipping speed and packaging. It arrived 2 days before promised date. I am adding 1 bottle of each variety to a 72 Gallon Bowfront Saltwater Reef. The tank has cycled and has 10 pounds of live rock, 40 pounds of dry rock, 40 pounds crushed coral and 40 pounds of live sand. There is a green brittle star and a B. Cardinal in the aquarium also.I will update here when I see the first signs of Coralline growth.Edit.....After 4 weeks of careful water condition control, there are hundreds if not thousands of tiny spots of Coralline growth.Others who reviewed negatively are 100% wrong. They obviously did not provide the conditions required for a healthy reef. Too much ammonia or nitrates will result in zero growth. That is not ARCreef's fault..... Operator error. I would not sell a living thing to those individuals. It's more involved than just pour and wait. You must be smarter than an algae spore..... These are professional people who provide a great service to our oceans.

Ordered March 9th, added to my established cycled tank with perfect levels of 0 tds rodi water. I think this product is a modern day elixer hit or miss scam because I never saw any growth after adding product after a water change, turned off skimmer for 2 days, added kent essentials at same time and weekly afterwards, my levels are always 0, 1.27/ 35% salinity and 8.2 ph and everything else in range established with sufficient lighting, good flow and adequate filtration BUT it's July and no growth of any kind of Coralline BUT I did have that wanderful cyano growth afterwardsand still fighting to eliminate. Now if the elixer worked the Coralline would overpower the cyano i received and I wouldnt have to complain. I was thinking maybe I received a poor batch and considered buying another bottle but I can't risk more Cyano even though my urchin and starfish are happy. My levels continue to test 0 and lights are only on 6 hours. Yes I know there has to be nitrates for cyano to thrive and it can give off false o readings but it was 0 before product and didn't have cyano until after product introduced. I have managed to almost eliminate it but it has taken time and alot of effort in cleaning and water changes and vodka dosing. Well at least if I take a shot I'm not drinking alone. I've had to resort to turning my fish into alcoholics to finally see a cyano clear tank again(they all seem happier together lol).

So I ordered this product with fingers crossed for some positive results. Got home and it was crammed into the mailbox which was unexpected since it was ordered with Prime and considered a "live" algae. Opened up the packaging and the bottles were wrapped nicely in some quality bubble wrap and the packaging was in perfect condition... seen there were no ice packs or anything, and noticed that the bottles were noticieably warm to the touch. Im assuming its from sitting inside a metal mailbox all day in the sun. So I start reading the instructions and it says that it doesnt do well in cold so am relieved a little bit. I follow the directions for adding to the aquarium and in the middle of the stepss it says to use the enclosed brush to scrape the insides of the bottle and loosen the spores from the sides. Unfortunately there was to brush for either purple or pink bottle. I had a tooth brush on hand that i use to clean coral plugs though so used that.I had some concerns with the temperature and being alive, and no brush being included, but will just have to wait and see. This is one of those aquarium products that take time to work, so no instant results. If product does well I will update the review accordingly.

As others have said, it takes a few months to see results. I had a 29 gallon tank for over a year and had barely any coralline algae growth. I moved to a 75 and bought a bottle of this. I put it in right after I got everything moved over, even though the instructions said to wait until the tank has been established. 3 months later, I was scraping hard purple coralline algae off my glass. It was on the glass, the rock, the overflow box, even the sand! I put a light in my sump for my chaeto to live there, and now it's on my pump down there, and even the heaters. Growth has slowed down since that crazy bloom, but it's still growing strong as steady, and I still have to scrape it off my glass. I have 2 shades of purple and one pink. Very pretty. I'm very happy with this product.

2 bottles, each at different times, I see very little coralline growth anywhere...the growth I do see, I dont know if I can attribute that to the CA that was already resident in my DT, or from the product. I wont buy again.