Does purple up work? Cause purple tech didn't

[Convict2161]

Basically what the title says. I went through a big bottle and dosed per directions and nothing. Now I have Purple Up. I even took a rock from a friends tank and shaved it into my tank. I've read up that my tank could be "too clean?"

Could this be?

 

[AquaRick]

Purple up does nothing for tanks that have the right amount of Ca, Mg etc. It's just concentrated calcium and only really useful for tanks that aren't using reef salts and have low amounts of those elements.

 

[Convict2161]

Purple up does nothing for tanks that have the right amount of Ca, Mg etc. It's just concentrated calcium and only really useful for tanks that aren't using reef salts and have low amounts of those elements.

Oh ok. Then I shouldn't be using it. My calcium is at 440 so I could be doing harm then? Just wanted to get some Coraline growing. Sounds like I just have to patient.

 

[AquaRick]

just need to be patient

 

[AquaRick]

Also, it doesn't come out of nowhere. Coraline must be introduced. So the shavings should help.

 

[Convict2161]

Also, it doesn't come out of nowhere. Coraline must be introduced. So the shavings should help.

Thanks again Rick. I'll try the shavings again and just wait it out.

 

[AquaRick]

Make sure to turn off your sump pump if you have one. You want the shavings to move around and get lodged in rock crevices and not down your overflow into your sump.

 

[MacDracor]

just need to be patient

+1! Nothing good happens fast in a saltwater tank. Sometimes it takes months for coralline to really start to spread. Eventually, it'll grow wild, but that will take a long time.
The shavings are a good idea, but just like Rick said, turn off the skimmer for a while after adding them.

 

[Convict2161]

Make sure to turn off your sump pump if you have one. You want the shavings to move around and get lodged in rock crevices and not down your overflow into your sump.

Ok so I don't have a sump, should I shut down the power heads, skimmer and MJ 1200? Which I guess is my pump.

 

[Jspires688]

Look for a hermit crab or snail at the lfs that has it on its shell

 

[bskerrichard27]

Took six months to grow in my tank after I introduced it

 

[carey]

I've had problems with too much coralline, actually grows over my corals and has encased everything in my 125g. I just keep the water parameters in order as far as calcium, alkalinity and magnesium.

I did however use a bottle for for a few weeks of purple up in my 90g and my cube. I used a 20g as a control. Believe it or not the purple up tanks actually showed ALOT of coralline growth versus the 20g that had no purple up put into it. All three tanks I used for the experiment had a small amount of coralline already so the tanks did have some to begin with.

I am not saying that purple up is a miracle solution for coralline but it did help, not sure if it was the cal/alk/mag that is in the bottle that wasnt in sufficient amounts in the tanks but I really saw it work.

 

[AquaRick]

Ok so I don't have a sump, should I shut down the power heads, skimmer and MJ 1200? Which I guess is my pump.

You can keep your powerheads on. Turn off the skimmer.

 

[Convict2161]

You can keep your powerheads on. Turn off the skimmer.

Gotcha. Thanks

 

[Sniperhank]

Look for a hermit crab or snail at the lfs that has it on its shell

This is how I got mine introduced into my 36. I ordered a ton of margarita snails and let them do their thing. Algae problem was battled and introduced coraline into my tank.