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Romulox234
02/06/2010, 03:22 PM
Anbody use it and have sucess with it?

Its supposed to grow coraline in your tank, any negative side effects or anything i should be aware of before trying?

phenom5
02/06/2010, 03:28 PM
Wouldn't bother with it. A good quality 2-part (B-Ionic for example) would be a better way to go IMO.

CleveYank
02/06/2010, 03:28 PM
Step one, forget about purple up.
Step two read the chemistry forums about Ca, Alk, Mg, boron and Iodine.
Step three keep your phosphates down (high phosphate levels inhibit coralline growth).
Step four keep your Mg where it should be 1200 to 1300 min and do water changes and Boron will stay where it should.
step five dose according to the directions 1 time per week potassium Iodide (if you prot. skim and have activated carbon running)
Step six, keep your Ca and Alk levels where they need to be.

You'll have coralline coming out of your ears. There are exceptions with very long and very bright ligthing setups that inhibit coralline even with the above steps.

It's BS in a bottle...purple up that is.

Romulox234
02/06/2010, 04:14 PM
I was just gonna try it out to see the effects and maybe get a little started in my tank, but if you say dont bother than i guess maybe ill have to go about getting coraline another way

fleming3
02/06/2010, 04:29 PM
If you'd like to jump start the process, check with your LFS. A couple of the ones around me will actually give coralline scrapings from their display tanks for free.

Octoshark
02/06/2010, 04:35 PM
Purple Up is definitely a good marketing technique; they make it sound like something new and special, but if you read the ingredients then you will see that it is not necessary and can easily be achieved on your own.

Its like a bodybuilding supplement saying things like "promotes muscle growth via protein synthesis, blah blah blah" to make it sound like some magical supplement, but then when you read the ingredients you see that it is just a scientific way of saying "you are buying the same protein that you just ate in your burger."

Shane Hoffman
02/06/2010, 05:07 PM
I was just gonna try it out to see the effects and maybe get a little started in my tank, but if you say dont bother than i guess maybe ill have to go about getting coraline another way



I read somewhere on their site that purple up will NOT start coraline growing. It will only encourage or spped up the rate at which it spreads if it is already present.

Octoshark
02/06/2010, 05:16 PM
How long has your tank been set up? Do you have adequate levels of calcium? Do you have adequate lighting?

garzaci
02/06/2010, 05:37 PM
Just keep your cal, alk, mg up. Its nothing special. My tank is loaded w/coralline and not from purple up. It will grow and if you have nothing else in your tank competing with it it seems to grow faster. About 6 months into my tank and all my rocks were covered and starting on the glass.

FISHUNT-72
02/06/2010, 05:40 PM
Don't waste your money.Spend the $20 on a nice zoa frag.Be careful what you wish for.Once the coraline starts growing, IMO it's a PITA!

Romulox234
02/06/2010, 05:41 PM
The rocks i have in there now are covered in coraline but its not new its from before and all dried on, most of the rocks came from other peoples tanks. I wanted to start the process of coraline growing in my tank but i can see that it is in some places already starting so ill just stay on top of water changes and calcium dosing because i have some sps in there and we'll see what happens.

Are there any other trace elements i should be dosing, i know that CleveYank suggested i dose idoine anything else?

FISHUNT-72
02/06/2010, 05:48 PM
Just dose the 2-part and Mg.I do a drop of Lugol's once a week in my AP24.Don't know if it helps,but all of my zoas are growing like weeds.That could just be from my 2-part and Mg though.I know a lot of people use the K.I.S.S. theory.Keep It Simple Stupid.I think most will agree.:thumbsup:

sfboarders
02/06/2010, 05:51 PM
Purple up is a rip off. Read the bottle. It's just sand and calcium.

garzaci
02/06/2010, 06:12 PM
Look up Randy's Recipes. You can make your own 2 part for a fraction of the cost. It's all simple and you can get the ingredients at local stores.

fasteddie99
02/06/2010, 06:16 PM
I've used purple up since I started my tank and nothing else. I dose about 2 capfulls about once a week to keep my Ca up and I have it growing like mad on my back wall. It took about a year for it to start but once it does it takes off. Its accually starting to "plate" on the glass, I just noticed it tonight.

Disclaimer: I cant say that purple up is the reason for the rapid coraline growth, but I can say I used it to keep the Calcium up to certainly encourage it.

Here is a couple pics of the back wall. Btw, my next tank I will keep the rock off the back wall so that I can keep it "coraline free"...I like it once it covers the enire wall, but in the meantime while it grows it looks "patchy" and makes for an unclean look. :hmm2:


http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu209/fasteddie99/th_IMG_8955.jpg

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu209/fasteddie99/th_IMG_8952.jpg

thebanker
02/06/2010, 06:17 PM
I disagree with a lot of the purple up haters here. I think it's a good product, and has worked just fine for my basic calcium dosing needs. I supplement it with Aquavitro 8.4 for reefs.

Don't think it will suddenly make coralline algae explode like you've never seen before. Mine is growing though, and growing well. :)

fasteddie99
02/06/2010, 06:17 PM
Hmm, not sure why my pictures turned out as small as they did but you get the picture.:lol2: literaly

fasteddie99
02/06/2010, 06:23 PM
Try this again
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu209/fasteddie99/IMG_8952.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu209/fasteddie99/IMG_8955.jpg

tkeracer619
02/06/2010, 06:29 PM
I disagree with a lot of the purple up haters here. I think it's a good product, and has worked just fine for my basic calcium dosing needs. I supplement it with Aquavitro 8.4 for reefs.

Don't think it will suddenly make coralline algae explode like you've never seen before. Mine is growing though, and growing well. :)

I disagree with your disagree. For what you spend on a bottle or two of a well marketed snake oil I maintain my 360g SPS tank for a year.

There is no question if it will raise calcium up. The gimmick of the product is that it promotes coralline growth when in fact it does not. Proper calcium, KH, and time do. The source doesn't matter.

Some people take their cars to a detail shop for a $25 carwash, I choose to wash mine in the driveway for about 30 cents. I promise my car wash is better then the detail shops. Same holds true for purple up vs 2 part.

Octoshark
02/06/2010, 06:42 PM
I disagree with a lot of the purple up haters here. I think it's a good product, and has worked just fine for my basic calcium dosing needs. I supplement it with Aquavitro 8.4 for reefs.

Don't think it will suddenly make coralline algae explode like you've never seen before. Mine is growing though, and growing well. :)

I don't think anybody is arguing that it is a bad product or that it doesn't work.

Romulox234
02/06/2010, 08:07 PM
So what 2 part would you guys recomend, im currently usin b-ionic anybody have any other solutions.

I got a buffer from carib sea so ill be trying that out to see how that works and ill also be dosing calcium for the sps and i guess ill have to start dosing iodine too if you say it helps and makes the zoas grow like crazy

Romulox234
02/06/2010, 09:54 PM
Bumpage

lordofthereef
02/07/2010, 12:28 AM
I disagree with a lot of the purple up haters here. I think it's a good product, and has worked just fine for my basic calcium dosing needs.

As a calcium supplement it may be fine. The point is that this really isn't what it is sold as or, rather, implied to be. As a "miracle coralline algae grower" it is snake oil IMO. As a calcium supplement, it may be fine, but I am sure there are MUCH cheaper options. FWIW all of my tanks have grown coralline fine without and "miracle" supplements.

chessnutt
02/07/2010, 02:01 AM
good parameter and it should take off after 3 months. Bluer lights. They seem to bleach white with strong light. After change my bulb from 10k to 14k the coralline grew out of control. Its now a P.I.T.A to clean. My tank is 180g and uses B-IONIC 2 part.

Peter Eichler
02/07/2010, 02:34 AM
Here's my old tank. no purple up or any other nonsense product of the like... Just maintain your calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium and keep your phosphates down and you'll have more coralline than you know what to do with.

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/pseichler/Reefprogression3-8-07012.jpg

P.S. Ignore the mutiple firefish, really bad idea.

PIPS
02/07/2010, 02:38 AM
really nice growth.

thebanker
02/07/2010, 04:59 AM
There is no question if it will raise calcium up. The gimmick of the product is that it promotes coralline growth when in fact it does not. Proper calcium, KH, and time do. The source doesn't matter.

Ok, so we both agree that it provides calcium, which promotes the growth of coralline algae. The manufacturer claims the product promotes coralline algae growth by providing ionic calcium; you can read it on Caribsea's somewhat cludgy website (http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/add_buff.html) or on the bottle. Purple-Up provides calcium to the tank, so technically they are correct. By that logic, most commercially marketed reef calcium supplement could claim to promote coralline algae growth.

As a calcium supplement it may be fine. The point is that this really isn't what it is sold as or, rather, implied to be. As a "miracle coralline algae grower" it is snake oil IMO. As a calcium supplement, it may be fine, but I am sure there are MUCH cheaper options. FWIW all of my tanks have grown coralline fine without and "miracle" supplements.

Exactly, it's no miracle, and there are cheaper options, like any old calcium / alkalinity supplement. That said, I've still had great coralline growth while dosing Purple-Up along with various brands of alkalinity supplements (tried a few).

Booya! :)

CleveYank
02/07/2010, 06:47 AM
So what 2 part would you guys recomend, im currently usin b-ionic anybody have any other solutions.

I got a buffer from carib sea so ill be trying that out to see how that works and ill also be dosing calcium for the sps and i guess ill have to start dosing iodine too if you say it helps and makes the zoas grow like crazy


I used B-ionic with great success for many years. It's a good product and if your phosphate is low, iodine/boron and Mg are good and your halides/t5's are not hammering the snot out of your liverock and such you'll have great coralline growth with it.

When I was running VHOs in particular while dosing my 90 with B-ionic I had coralline growth that actually became overkill. That being said, when I reached the 500plus range it became way too expensive (as probably purple up snake oil catchy marketing in a bottle would as well). I have since moved to Ca reactors and DIY 2 part of baked baking soda, pedlow CaCl, & DT Mag additive, and kalk reactors. But Before I started playing with all of these I read the information behind the chemistry of the process. I learned what the proper water parameters were and how to manipulate them. And oddly enough most of the same ones that boost SPS growth, also boost coralline growth. Nice coincidence I'd say.

Hit the reef alchemy and DIY 2 part articles and you'll be able to have very good results and even some coralline growth.

Ever get that feeling it's like almost deja vu all over again? lol