Purple Up

[El Camaron]

Does anyone here use it?

How do you like it?

[Longchamp]

The general consensus is that its a waste of money. It's mostly just calcium at a 50x mark-up. It does have 'micro-aragonite' similar to whats found in liquid reactor. It DOES work but people have had issues over time, i'm not sure of all the details but try doing a search on it. People will have unknown problems where they've all narrowed it down to a common source: purple up.

My nanos only been up for 2 months and i've got a ton of coralline on my filter tube and pumps just by maintaining my calcium (at around 420) and alkalinity. Coralline patches have grown from a tiny speck i can hardly see to patches 1cm or so across.

[smilby36]

i use it and have no issues...I have great coraline growth after 3 months, corals look great...I also add essential elements and lugols...

[El Camaron]

I too have heard good things about it, ususally i hear the bad after i have purchased it.

ill do some more searching.

[rhunter513]

The things is, if you dose calcium then you need to also dose a alk buffer. Alk and Ca work off each other, calcium high then alk low, alk high then calcium low. Tanks do best when they are in balance with each other in the good range...ionic balance. Just dosing purple up alone will eventually(over the course of weeks or months) cause your alk to drop dangerously low (even with water changes) which can cause a tank crash.

I recommend B-ionic two parts buffer. http://www.esvco.com/prod6.html

B-Ionic Calcium Buffer is the original, unique, easy to use, two-component liquid supplement system. When using equal volumes of each component, the aquarist can easily maintain calcium and alkalinity levels with no mixing powders, disruption of ionic balance, or addition of organic chemicals. In addition to supplying highly concentrated calcium and carbonate alkalinity required for calcification, B-Ionic Calcium Buffer System also provides all other important major, minor, and trace elements in the proper ratios to duplicate the composition of synthetic seawater. As a result, B-Ionic Calcium Buffer System will help restore inorganic ions lost from protein skimming and help maintain the ionic balance of the aquarium water.

[El Camaron]

is that the same thing as the Two Little Fishies product called C-Balance?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4737

[Longchamp]

I saw your thread in the reef chem forum. Head back there and take a look at Randy's 2 part additive. (now a 3 part). Its a home made method for doing what b-ionic does, except without the "trace elements", whatever they are.

www.bulkreefsupply.com sells a whole kit for the two part, so you dont have to worry about messing anything up. the kit even comes with 2 big jugs to mix everything in.

A gallon of b-ionic calcium part 1 is like $20 shipped, more at your local store. The calcium at BRF to make your own is like $4 for an equivalent amount, maybe less. and you can even make the alkalinity portion yourself. Just throw baking soda in the oven and then mix it with water, its the same stuff as whats in Part 2 (alkalinity) of b-ionic. 1 box of baking soda is enough for like 2 gallons of the stuff for 50 cents. Or you can buy the soda ash (thats what baking soda turns into when you bake it in the oven) from BRF as well. Its more expensive there though.


edit: i wouldnt worry about the trace elements in b-ionic, they should be replenished by your water changes anyway

[El Camaron]

sweet, thanks for the advice longchamp.

[cherubfish pair]

You can't just dose anything according to its label. The label doesn't take into account what's already in the tank of what you're going to dose. This book helped me immensely.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qDLnkqYgL._SS500_.jpg

[cherubfish pair]

Oh, don't mind the emaciated fish on the cover of the book, it's dying of natural causes.

[arctictwist]

another plug fort he b-ionic. My tank has been doing wonderfully since i started using it. My corraline is spreading like mad!

[Justinandkrista]

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Two-Part-Kits/c52/p269/Two-Part-Kits/product_info.html

is this the 2 part alk cal additive

[smilby36]

kent liquid reactor works really well too.