Is Purple Up smart?

Yeah it's unnecessary for you to test, who wants to have a stable system? That means you won't have to go back and replace the fish that die, due to a harsh pH drop. Unfortunately, many LFS see customers as their next payday, not caregivers to the livestock they are selling.
Using Kalkwasser to increase Ca levels need to be done carefully. After you mix it, you want to add the clear solution, not the sediment on the bottom. Adding the sediment can potentially cause a huge pH jump. I learned from personal experience when I dumped in a 1/2 of kalk mix, sediment and all. The next day, my pH was 8.9. Luckily, the only thing I had in the tank was my LR. Besides that, it pulled the Ca out of solution and it looked like my tank was in the middle of a Himilayan snow storm. If you use kalk properly, it will not affect any other parameter outside of your Ca. I seem to have the best luck increasing my Mg, then Ca, then alk(KH). If I go out that order, I tend to see things come out of solution when I increase them.

 

I know i am opening myself up for wrath BUT they were right. Testing Cal levels is not nearly as important in a FOWLR as it is with a reef.

The Ca consumption in a fowler will be slower and can be handled by water changes. I think sometimes people forget that there is a different set of params that are important when you deal with FOWLR or reef.

This as always is JMO

 

wrath shared is wrath halved - I ran FOWLR for 12- 14 months and never tested for Calc or mag -

but many people who start with FOWLR often get the coral bug - as I did
so its handy to purchase the test kits in advance of making the desicion to move over

I used purple up for 1st 6 months and upon purchase of a Tropic marin test kit found calc at 468 and Mag at 1500 - these levels can only be as a result of purple up coupled with fact there was nothing in the tank that was using these elements as fast as I was adding them

I now realise I need a Iodine test kit, because I have probably pushed that level up to high also


Steve

 

I've also had a FOWLR, and the only concern other than water changes was having a hydrometer handy to keep a close check on salinity and specific gravity, as far is every thing else on a FOWLR, need to keep your eye on the ph, and there is a product by kent
called "Essential elements" but I wouldn't recommend the use, unless you are willing to check for Ca, Mg, and IODINE/IODIDE; do to the concentration of this elements present. Then again you have to have the coraline spores/seeds present in your tank for them to spread.

 

Thats weird?!?! Usually the precipitate in the bottom is just CaCO3 when the mixture wasn't properly mixed or if atmospheric CO2 got into the mix or something to that extent. The precipitate is bound and will not have an effect on Ca or alk levels...

Kalk WILL effect paramaters other than Ca, it will also increase pH, kH and Ca.... and long term use of kalk typically will depress Mg levels...

Happy reefing!

 

ive only been in the hobby for a little over 7 months but i like to consider myself a quick study. the more i pass around reefer circles the more disdain i have for my LFS. they will sell you "just what you need" and charge you at least twice what you should pay for it. luckily, the veterans of reefing tend to be the most helpful bunch of folks i have ever run across. i now "got a guy" for about anything i need and these hook ups have already saved me a considerable sum of money.

that being said, i bought into the LFS voodoo and have a big ol' bottle of Purple Up. i still dose with the stuff seeing as i paid enough that i'm not going to throw it out and it does aid with a few trace elements. but IMHO the coralline algae i have taking over my tank is simply present because of the natural course of things. the LFS sells this stuff as a magic fix and tells you it might take a while before you see any results. duh, the stuff doesn't do anything that proper tank management would do anyway.

 

I liked reading this thread, years and years in this hobby and new comers are always asking for the "quick way to purple". It was said - CA and Mg is the trick....

One thing that you can do is to scrape some of the coralline that you already have, this will spread spores around your tank and begin more colonies as you work on your water perameters.

Oh yeah, turn your skimmer off when you scrape - just about 30-45 minutes or so....g'luck !

 

Not much changes in this hobby does it CG? For me, simple has always been better and there never has been nor will there ever be a "magic" bottle of additives that can/will do what nature does on its own.

 

i found that the best way to kick start the coraline growth is just regular water changes. good water parameters will make a healthy system and then you will get your coraline.

becareful once it starts growing it will spread everywhere

 

So one way of keeping control of coraline algae is to not scrape it off the glass? I want coraline algae but i dont want it to take over my tank like my star polyps are already doing. I learned to trim it back now!