Product: Purple Helix - does it work?

[NO3]

There is a product on Amazon called Purple Helix that clains it will grow purple corraline in your tank.

75% of reviewers say it works & grows coralline
25% say its a waste of money & theyve seen little to no results

Any experience among RC?

[FoxFace Fish]

no experience but I recommend getting a small rock with coralline from a friend and held it near your powerhead then scrape the rock right next to it

[Cliving1]

Agreed, just get a small rock and seed the tank

[soulpatch]

And after getting it going in your tank you will forever be cursing it and wishing you had none. Gets over PH, plumbing, pumps, glass, ect. Basically everywhere you dont want it to grow...

[Bent]

Coraline is an algae

Algae is a living thing

Living things cannot survive in shelved packaging.

[Volcmreefer]

They claim this stuff is packaged when sold and it does have a shelf life of two weeks or so. I tried it. Bought 2 bottles for my 80 gallon reef and noticed more corraline algae about 3-4 weeks after dosing. Not definitive results though, because I started dosing Aquaforest 1,2,3 about the same time.

[RCS82]

There is a product on Amazon called Purple Helix that clains it will grow purple corraline in your tank.

75% of reviewers say it works & grows coralline
25% say its a waste of money & theyve seen little to no results

Any experience among RC?

It's both. Sure it will work but also is a waste of money. Buy a couple snails or some rubble with coraline on them. Away you go.

[eamike261]

Coraline is an algae

Algae is a living thing

Living things cannot survive in shelved packaging.

So live sand is a hoax?

[mndfreeze]

It works. I used it.

Buy it direct from them, not from amazon though.

[rvareef]

purple up or bust

[mcgyvr]

So live sand is a hoax?

Not entirely...
The statement should have been "Living things can't survive indefinitely in shelved packaging".. Things most certainly have a "shelf life"..
Bacteria in a bottle can typically still be useful for up to a year or more..
Live sand even when still "damp" can still harbor thousands of living bacterial cells..

The amount of "dead" in "live" sand though is usually considerable..
I've used both and found that live sand causes more problems with diatoms/algae growth,etc... and really offers no benefit

I always just use well rinsed dry sand now..

[eamike261]

purple up or bust

Purple Up is an entirely different product that is used for a completely different purpose.

DFS website: "Purple Up does not contain coralline algae. Some coralline algae must already be living on rocks or aquarium glass." - AKA a dosing supplement to help coralline grow faster

"Purple Helix contains both live coralline algae spores and nitrifying bacteria" - AKA spores/bacteria to seed the growth of coralline algae

[lapin]

There is a product on Amazon called Purple Helix that claims it will grow purple corraline in your tank.

75% of reviewers say it works & grows coralline
25% say its a waste of money & theyve seen little to no results

Any experience among RC?
So lets anal izse what we have here
75% say yes
25% say no

The "yes" people have grown coralline algae after using it, or are lying. Could the algae have grown anyway? Maybe.
The "no" people could not grow coralline algae after using it. Maybe they cant grow it to start with.

This is not a scientific experiment.

Will it help you??? ahhh the $20.00 question.
Answer = Maybe and maybe not.

$20 will give you the answer you are lookin for.

[eamike261]

So lets anal izse what we have here
75% say yes
25% say no

The "yes" people have grown coralline algae after using it, or are lying. Could the algae have grown anyway? Maybe.
The "no" people could not grow coralline algae after using it. Maybe they cant grow it to start with.

This is not a scientific experiment.

Will it help you??? ahhh the $20.00 question.
Answer = Maybe and maybe not.

$20 will give you the answer you are lookin for.

Technically even if it was scientific, only a "no" is determinant here. Since the "yes" people could have easily been false positives (i.e. the coralline was seeded via another method). Whereas the "no" people used it and confirmed that it did NOT grow coralline. Although I suppose their tanks may have lacked the right parameters for the spores to take hold... definitely not scientific as you said.

[RioReefr]

Although I suppose their tanks may have lacked the right parameters for the spores to take hold.

Personally, I do NOT have coralline algae growing in my tank except what came on frags or some small live rocks. I have some snails with coralline, but they came like that.

Everything I have read is you need Nitrates/Phosphates very low and the other parameters in-check. If you have other algae growing then this will suffocate the coralline spores and they will never grow. You also need very good flow.

My biggest problem is I do not think I have adequate flow and I also feed my fish 2x daily, so admittedly my tank is not the cleanest.

I thought about buying the Purple Helix, but I would I doubt it would take off for me when I already know I do not have ideal environment.

[rvareef]

purple up works better

[eamike261]

purple up works better

Purple Up and Purple Helix are not comparable and do two completely different things.

[rvareef]

Purple Up and Purple Helix are not comparable and do two completely different things.

purple up has more/better stuff

[tonysi]

Purple up doesn't contain any coralline spores, it only boosts they existing coralline in your tank.

[rvareef]

Purple up doesn't contain any coralline spores, it only boosts they existing coralline in your tank.

purple up has all you need!

[mndfreeze]

Purple up contains electrolytes! It has what algae craves!

LOL

Purple up has no spores though. Purple helix actually does. If you need to SEED your system, helix is the way to go. If all you want is booster minerals n stuff then use purple up or just keep good water chemistry....

Also helix will work regardless of your water not being spot on perfect. Coralline eventually grows in almost every tank except in extreme bad cases. If you are keeping coral, you generally are going to get corraline. I know this because I'm currently dealing with a damn cyano bloom from hell after trying to introduce a tiny fuge with some live mud (not man made stuff, but from an actual mudflat) that spiked my nitrates like mad. Corraline still growing...

[WVfishguy]

I did not know you COULD have a reef without coralline algae until I set up my own reef this year. I used 25+ year old live rock from a 'fuge which was coralline free. I'm really glad I don't have the damn stuff. I didn't realize what a PITA it was. I have more than enough light & elements to get it, but I'm careful not to introduce it. My corals are growing well, but no coralline. I was at a hobbyist's home one time and his wife was LIVID at all the purple "crap" on the back wall of the 200 gal. living room tank. I hope they didn't get divorced over it.

[cristoe]

There is a product on Amazon called Purple Helix that clains it will grow purple corraline in your tank.

75% of reviewers say it works & grows coralline
25% say its a waste of money & theyve seen little to no results

Any experience among RC?

I bought it, 2 bottles to be exact (for a 20 gallon). I know Arc Reef is a local company here in miami. I have not seen any coraline algae growth yet but again this my first reef tank and the tank has not fully matured i added helix pink and purple maybe a month ago. my diatoms have subsided and green algae is forming all over the rocks so I am guessing coraline will be next. I will post pics at first signs of growth....