purple up

[tony53176]

I am on day 3 of my tank setup and added some live rock to seed my dry rock and the live rock I have has a large amount of corraline algae attached to it. I would like the corraline algae to grow everywhere I just love the looks of it.

could I use purple up to help accelerate the growth of the algae so close to the beginning of my cycle or would I be doing more harm than good? I haven't tested for anything but ammonia and nitrites so I have no idea what the calcium levels are at.

[jdm01]

I did not have good success with Purple Up. it is probably a little early to dose calcium, but if you want to I would choose a good 2 part like B-Ionic or Kent Marine. You will have better results.

[Palting]

If you use a good salt and maintain an SG of 1.026 like seawater, you do not need Purple Up.

[JTL]

^
Purple up is just an expensive calcium additive. It you need to increase Ca down the road use Kalkwasser from BRS or pickling lime if you can find it.

[Sport507]

Purple up is was waste of time and money. Just maintain good water chemistry and you will have it everywhere.

[tebstan]

Hey, I had good results with Purple Up.

Of course, I got it free...

I agree that its expensive, and I wouldn't have bought it because there are cheaper alternatives. But if you already bought a bottle of it, don't beat yourself up. It does help some. Just ask RC before the LFS employee before your next additive purchase. So much of it is unnecessary or overpriced, and many of them duplicate each other so can lead to overdoses.

[Zappo]

Purple up is full of what they call "super sea calcium" which supposedly doses calcium along with trace elements. What they call "super sea calcium" is powdered aragonite, the same stuff our rocks and sand are usually made of. If you used aragonite sand, you already have a tank full of purple up and can safely skip it.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It amazes me that so many companies sell products with the fine aragonite in it as if it is a useful additive, when in reality it won't dissolve and is like adding sand.

The other ingredients in Purple Up may or may not be useful, but the fine aragonite is not useful.

[Sport507]

The people that say they have had good/great results with purple up have no real proof the product was responsible. The companies that sell these types of product know this and capitalize on that fact. $$$

People use it and because they see coralline growth think it was the product that is responsible for it.

In reality, they would have gotten the same coralline growth with out it.

[tebstan]

Myself and a coworker set up tanks at the same time, using the same salt and water source. I used it, she didn't. Mine got coraline faster so we blamed the Purple Up.

I did more frequent water changes, so that likely contributed, especially since it was Oceanic salt. In the long run, we had the same amount of coraline. (Long run being a few months after the tanks were set up.) So was it worth it? Well, it didn't hurt. But like I said, I wouldn't have paid for the bottle.

Purple Up can cause a problem if you add too much too fast... some seriously cloudy water that's a pain to clear up.

I've also heard a lot of people say that taking scrapes of coraline and sprinkling it in a new tank would help. I haven't tested that theory, but it would be interesting if someone did.

Coraline will eventually grow just about anywhere. People with new tanks want to speed it up because they're so darn ugly at first. I was surprised to see coraline growing all over my pico when it had stock (cruddy) LED lights. NOT reef capable ones, the cheap stuff they put on betta tanks.


The OP wants coraline, and wants it now! :) jdm01 mentioned two part, that's what I would do if I was starting over. Kalk seems a bit heavy handed for a newbie, save that for later. Two part can get you in good habits for dosing and testing. But do test! Until you're tank is more established anyway; after a while you can tell by looking at your livestock how things are going.

[tony53176]

thanks guys for all your replies. right now I'm using instant ocean, its a purple bucket, is this salt of good enough quality? Also right now my specific gravity is around 1.022/1.023 what would be a good way to increase it? right now there is nothing in the tank besides rock and sand, could I just add the salt right to the tank or should I remove some water and then add more with more salt in it?

[pmark]

SG should be around 1.025. Take some tank water out, add salt to it an mix with a powerhead then pour the water back in. Do not just add salt straight to the tank.

Don't waste your money on purple up. If you have live rock with coralline on it, use a toothbrush (clean one) or something to scrape the rock and let a powerhead disburse the scrapings in your tank. I started my tank up over 3 months ago and there's coralline growing very well everywhere.

[tony53176]

so lets say I take 5 gallons out, how much salt should I add to it? the bucket says 1/2 cup per gallon I did that and it gave me a SG of 1.022/.023 any suggestions on that would be great thanks

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Just replace evaporated water with salt water for a few days to raise the salinity. :)

[L_Spec]

thanks guys for all your replies. right now I'm using instant ocean, its a purple bucket, is this salt of good enough quality?

I switched from Instant Ocean to their Reef Crystals (Orange bucket) and I love the results compared to the old salt. The regular Instant Ocean Salt is good if you want to keep just fish, but if you're keeping corals then Reef Crystals is a better choice. I found that I had to dose A LOT with the Instant Ocean Salt and the corals in my tank did not like the swinging parameters at all.

With Reef Crystals, scheduled water changes is all you need to replenish the contents in the water. My SPS and LPS are actually happy now because of it.

[snorvich]

If you use a good salt and maintain an SG of 1.026 like seawater, you do not need Purple Up.

True.

[jason2459]

If you really want to help spread the Coraline everywhere keep up with your water changes which will help maintain your calcium and magnesium. Then take a toothbrush to the live rock with Coraline on it once a week. It will spread to the point you wish it wouldn't anymore.

[syrinx]

I think it is hit or miss- but i do think the concept or the arragonite dust making a substrate on the rock ideal for the starting of growth is sound.

[Zappo]

I think it is hit or miss- but i do think the concept or the arragonite dust making a substrate on the rock ideal for the starting of growth is sound.

Even when the rock and sand are both made of aragonite?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It has been suggested that some clean surfaces may be useful for coralline to colonize. I have no idea if it is true or not, but if Purple Up does encourage coralline, that may be how.

[jason2459]

I would say a toothbrush to the coraline would be more effective and cheaper.

[tony53176]

so if its better for me in the long run to be using reef crystals, what would be a good procedure for me to switch the water over? would it be better for me to pull out all the water now at once or wait for the cycle to finish and then do it over time with regular water changes?

on second thought I'm going to have wait until my purple bucket is used up unfortunately, I can't waste the money I spent on that salt, but once I'm done with that bucket I'll make the gradual change over to reef crystals

[SushiGirl]

You don't have to remove the existing water to start with new salt.

[Sport507]

so if its better for me in the long run to be using reef crystals, what would be a good procedure for me to switch the water over? would it be better for me to pull out all the water now at once or wait for the cycle to finish and then do it over time with regular water changes?

on second thought I'm going to have wait until my purple bucket is used up unfortunately, I can't waste the money I spent on that salt, but once I'm done with that bucket I'll make the gradual change over to reef crystals

When I made the switch from IO purple to the IO reef crystals I just used half and half doing a water change until it was gone.

[jason2459]

Why do you think reef crystals is better for your tank then regular IO?

[tony53176]

I switched from Instant Ocean to their Reef Crystals (Orange bucket) and I love the results compared to the old salt. The regular Instant Ocean Salt is good if you want to keep just fish, but if you're keeping corals then Reef Crystals is a better choice. I found that I had to dose A LOT with the Instant Ocean Salt and the corals in my tank did not like the swinging parameters at all.

With Reef Crystals, scheduled water changes is all you need to replenish the contents in the water. My SPS and LPS are actually happy now because of it.

Jason because of the above quote, also I've done some research and everywhere I've read says that the reef crystals has more calcium and other trace elements than regular IO so it would just make sense to me if I'm going to be putting inverts and corals in my tank that I should use the reef crystals rather than the regular IO to cut down on any dosing I might have to do

[tebstan]

If you don't have the occupants that require those extras, don't spend the money on the better salt yet. You can make the switch any time, use the cheaper stuff until you get some coral.

[tony53176]

If you don't have the occupants that require those extras, don't spend the money on the better salt yet. You can make the switch any time, use the cheaper stuff until you get some coral.

right thats what I had planned on doing, thanks man :)

[jason2459]

I use regular IO with no adding anything else just fine with a softies tank. Just small weekly water changes. Coraline is growing to the annoyance level on the glass.


I used to use ReefCrystals thinking I had to for corals but I found that because I mix the water a month at a time the extra organics that are added to RC break down and I always had a brief spike in cyano after a water change and made my Skimmer go crazy. Regular IO has just fine numbers to work with most basic systems. If you start going crazy with corals then you will most likely start getting into dosing.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, one can start with IO, boost the calcium and magnesium with Dowflake and Mag Flake, and have a final product that is cheaper to get the the RC values (if that is what you like) than the IO alone would be at the same final salinity. :)

[BigAl2007]

I say start with IO... keep it simple and get a good solid grasp on the fundamentals of a Salt Water tank. Learn testing, learn water changes and then expand on those fundamentals when the time is right. Later on when/if your needs grow then you can either tweak your current mix (dosing etc) or move to a product that has #'s more to your liking to meet the new demands for your tank.

Re: Purple Up - A good way to quickly get distance between you and your hard earned $$. When we start out we all want CORALLINE because it's been written/told over and over that when your tank is "Mature/Ready/Stable" you'll see coralline growing and this means you're doing something right! That's our goal is to look at the tank and have someone say, "Job well done. You have a tank well on it's way to a THRIVING reef tank and it looks great. Good job grass-hoppa!"

Simple fact of the matter is that when the tank truly IS ready if there are coralline spore in the water it will start to grow and cover just about any surface in the tank (rock, glass, sand, heater, pumps, powerheads, front door, toilet, microwave etc) to the point to where it's not a WONDERFUL BEAUTIFUL aspect of your tank. If you want to "Boost" this you can take a hard object and scrape areas where you see coralline patches releasing additional spore into the water column. I did that on several tanks. Heck on one tank I bought a pair of turbo snails that were totally covered in coralline and scraped their shell into the water to seed a tank with the spore. It worked like a charm.

With all this being said I regret the day I wanted to see my tank "Covered in that pretty purple stuff" because it's a LOT of work to get it off the areas where you do NOT want it (front glass, impellers etc).

Fact of the matter is you want to set the tank up, get it stable and then see just how stable you can keep your water parameters. One morning you'll wake up, look in the mirror and realize you suddenly have coralline growing in your bathroom LOL.

[tony53176]

LOL since I wrote this thread I have been seeing spots of corraline popping up in a bunch of different places and I have added nothing to the tank. So I want to thank all those who told me not to waste my money, looks like it was some good advice :)

[Sport507]

Happy Reefing with your thicker wallet.;)

[BigAl2007]

Happy Reefing with your thicker wallet.;)

Very well said... even though it wont last long LOL :)

[tony53176]

Very well said... even though it wont last long LOL :)

Too true ;)

[BassMekanik]

Instead of starting a new thread I'll just jump into this one. Here's what I have:

I set my tank up 5 months ago. I originally started out using IO but switched over to RC pretty fast. I do 25g water changes every 2 weeks. My calcium levels hang at around 500 and my alkalinity is usually between 5-7. These levels seem a bit high, but in order to get the desired salinity of 1.026 with RC I have to deal with it. I do not dose anything. I was told that at these levels my tank would sprout corraline algae within 3 months. I have yet to see anything.

It was then suggested that I use IO and dose to the desired levels, but I have yet to do this.

What am I doing wrong, or am I just being impatient?

[jerpa]

Do you have any coralline algae in your tank now? If so it should be spreading but you can speed the process by scraping the existing stuff. Make sure your phosphate levels are in check. High phosphates can inhibit growth. If there is a white border around the edges of existing coralline that means it is growing. If you have none you need to seed your tank with it.

[BassMekanik]

I do have some corraline on some liverock I acquired from a friend who has been in the hobby for a while. If I remember correctly it does have white border around the edges. I'll have to look again later when I get home. Should I scrape it with a toothbrush as I have read in previous posts?

As for keeping the phosphates in check, I imagine there are test kits for that? If they are too high, how do I lower them, water changes?

[jerpa]

There are test kits but a Hannah Phosphate checker would easier and more reliable. As for removing it water changes are a poor choice. GFO, macroalgae and carbon dosing are used pretty widely and are much more effective than water changes. You can read up on all of them on the forums.

[BigAl2007]

If you have some (as you say you do) you can take a sharp instrument (algae scraper) and scrape across what you do have. I've done this with great (I thought so at the time anyway) results. I always turned off the return pump so I wasn't removing the spores from the system but left circulation pumps (powerheads) running to distribute them through out the tank.

Woe is the days when I wanted the purple cement in my tank......