New bulps + puple-up?

[Soccerdude]

So I recently replaced all 8 bulbs on my t5 ho lighting system on my 46 and added purple up. I have had problems with cyano but I do 25% every week, my bio load is minuscule, and I have cheato even growing the tank itself! My water tests perfect every time and my corals are doing great. Sadly my coralline has died off so I've been looking for some options. I was told that the spectrum must have been off with my bulbs which has sparked the cyano growth which has acted as competition for the coralline.

I'll keep you guys updated on my results but just wondering if there's anyone out there with similar issues and if u have had luck with my coraline recovery strategy.

Thanks

 

[Soccerdude]

Oh, and I also replaced my sand bed over a month ago, parameters are very stable..

 

[danbstrong]

So I recently replaced all 8 bulbs on my t5 ho lighting system on my 46 and added purple up. I have had problems with cyano but I do 25% every week, my bio load is minuscule, and I have cheato even growing the tank itself! My water tests perfect every time and my corals are doing great. Sadly my coralline has died off so I've been looking for some options. I was told that the spectrum must have been off with my bulbs which has sparked the cyano growth which has acted as competition for the coralline.

I'll keep you guys updated on my results but just wondering if there's anyone out there with similar issues and if u have had luck with my coraline recovery strategy.

Thanks

Cyano doent use same nutrients as corraline coralline uses calcium and alk cyano is phosphates id say the bulbs will solve the issue provided alk cal and mag are good

 

[Soccerdude]

If there is no nutrient then it must be the lights.. But only time will tell. Anyone had luck with the purple up though?

 

[Gregcoyote]

It is your calcium and alk levels. I grow coralline algae in dark areas and under rocks, so I doubt the light had much to do with it. Purple up is mostly a calcium booster.

 

[Leonardo7689]

I've used it before. It made the tank cloudy when you dose it. It didn't raise my calcium as much so I switched to kalkwaser. Coraline algae will start to flourish in your tank eventually once the condition is right. At first it takes a while to get it going but once the growth starts it'll cover your tank fast. You'll even have to scrape them off the glass every couple of weeks or so

 

[Gregcoyote]

Kalkwasser is the cheapest and most efficient way to go. You can maintain calcium levels with two part solutions and purple up, but it takes Kalkwasser to raise them to the right levels. Also a good salt mix will help as some of them have high calcium levels when mixed. Kalkwasser is cheap.

 

[Soccerdude]

Sounds great thanks but as for the weird cyano stuff... It not like any slime that I've encountered in the past. It's sort of light brown and hairy and basically shows in the form of bubbles coving everything from sand to rocks, I've tried the slime remover medication but the stuff went unaffected.

Any ideas?

 

[Gregcoyote]

Sounds great thanks but as for the weird cyano stuff... It not like any slime that I've encountered in the past. It's sort of light brown and hairy and basically shows in the form of bubbles coving everything from sand to rocks, I've tried the slime remover medication but the stuff went unaffected.

Any ideas?

Sounds like diatoms. Selenium can have an effect here. Selenium comes from city water and some types of sand will also contain quantities of it. Diatoms come and go, so they might disappear on their own. Siphoning it out is always a good idea.

 

[Soccerdude]

If you look closely at the rock you will see the weird bubbles I was talking about. Periodically the release bring bits of the sandbed with to the surface.

 

[Gregcoyote]

If you look closely at the rock you will see the weird bubbles I was talking about. Periodically the release bring bits of the sandbed with to the surface.

The bubbles are probably oxygen being created by photosynthesis. I have a couple of different strains of hair algae that act like this as well.

 

[MikeYQM]

Kalkwasser is only really effective as Calcium/Alkalinity maintenance in reef that are moderately stocked with stony corals. While Kalk is cheap, it's best used as part of an auto top off or slow drip. Fully saturated kalk has a pH of about 10.5 so adding too much too fast to try to raise Ca/Alk can open the door to a pH spike which will also cause calcium carbonate (what you're trying to add) to precipitate out.

I would avoid purple up & dose 2 part to raise your levels then kalk would be acceptable to maintain them.

 

[Soccerdude]

Thanks again guys, definitely eased eased some of my worries

 

[Gregcoyote]

Kalkwasser is only really effective as Calcium/Alkalinity maintenance in reef that are moderately stocked with stony corals. While Kalk is cheap, it's best used as part of an auto top off or slow drip. Fully saturated kalk has a pH of about 10.5 so adding too much too fast to try to raise Ca/Alk can open the door to a pH spike which will also cause calcium carbonate (what you're trying to add) to precipitate out.

I would avoid purple up & dose 2 part to raise your levels then kalk would be acceptable to maintain them.

The opposite is true. Kalkwasser will raise the levels (although it must be added very slowly because of the PH issues raised. At night is the best time.) then a two part does a good job of maintaining them. You can use calcium chloride to boost calcium levels, but I like Kalkwasser better, Again, Google "Kalkwasser use" to form your own opinion.

This is a good thread,

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums...ou-use-Kalkwasser-do-you-use-two-part-as-well

 

[danbstrong]

Kalkwasser is only really effective as Calcium/Alkalinity maintenance in reef that are moderately stocked with stony corals. While Kalk is cheap, it's best used as part of an auto top off or slow drip. Fully saturated kalk has a pH of about 10.5 so adding too much too fast to try to raise Ca/Alk can open the door to a pH spike which will also cause calcium carbonate (what you're trying to add) to precipitate out.

I would avoid purple up & dose 2 part to raise your levels then kalk would be acceptable to maintain them.

Ya i agree here kalk is more for maintaining levels but i imagine that if you dont have many sps it could be used to raise levels in my 55g sps only kalk couldn keep up i had get calcium reactor so id imagine stock of the tank would determine its effectiveness i think the brown algae is dinoflagilates

 

[MikeYQM]

I dose kalk on ATO @ 2/3 saturated solution. This keeps my calcium @ 440ppm @ Alk @ 11.5. Even in 140 gals of water, that's enough to raise my pH .25 with less than 1 gal going in over a 24 hour period. I would not use kalk to raise my calcium or alkalinity EVER. 2 part allows you to raise calcium by up to 20ppm daily & alkalinity 1dKH daily without a significant rise in pH. For me to raise my calcium by 20ppm in a day, I would have to DOUBLE my dose, sending my pH through the ROOF.

Yes, a lower demand tank would require less, resulting in a lower pH swing and yes, vinegar can be added to help offset the pH swing, but why not use a solution WITHOUT the negative side effects?

As a maintenance dose, the 24/7 addition of both calcium & alkalinity (can't do this with 2 part they have to be dosed separately) and convenience of dosing via an established system (ATO) far outweighs the pH swings. Further, the lower quantity needed for maintenance v. raising keeps that swing lower anyways.

 

[ccCapt]

Kalkwasser is the cheapest and most efficient way to go. You can maintain calcium levels with two part solutions and purple up, but it takes Kalkwasser to raise them to the right levels. Also a good salt mix will help as some of them have high calcium levels when mixed. Kalkwasser is cheap.

I also somewhat disagree. You definitely can't maintain calcium using Purple up, unless your demand is next to nothing, plus Purple up does nothing for alk. It's best to use 2-part calcium and alk dosing to get your levels where you want them, especially since you may need to adjust one more than the other. Then use kalk to maintain those levels, if your demand is low enough where the kalk will keep up.

What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
"Limewater that is saturated with calcium hydroxide has a pH of 12.54 at 25ºC. It is actually recognized as a secondary pH standard. ...Saturated limewater has a conductivity of about 10.3 mS/cm at 25ºC, and contains about 808 ppm of calcium and 40.8 meq/l of alkalinity."

"The fact that limewater is very basic (the pH is typically above 12) demands that the limewater be added slowly to an aquarium unless very small additions are made. The reason for this is two-fold: to prevent the local pH in the area of the addition from rising too high (slow addition permits more rapid mixing with tank water to reduce the pH), and to prevent the overall tank pH from rising too high (slow addition allows the tank to pull in CO[SIZE=-1]2[/SIZE] from the atmosphere during the slow addition, mitigating the pH rise). Some aquarists advocate rapid addition, and that is fine for small additions that would add less than 0.2 meq/L of alkalinity to the aquarium, but larger additions will drive the pH too high..."

"Another important consideration for limewater is the upper limit of the amount that can be added to an aquarium. This limitation exists simply because both the amount of water that can be added to an aquarium each day (to replace evaporation), and the amount of solid lime that can be dissolved in that water, are finite."

"If an aquarium’s calcium and alkalinity demands are near the high end, then replacing all of the evaporated water with saturated limewater may not be adequate. ... Additionally, aquarists often use a small amount of one of the other balanced additive systems (especially the two-part additive systems) to give a little boost to aquaria that need a small amount of extra calcium and alkalinity beyond what limewater can supply, without incurring significant capital costs. Likewise, these two-part additive systems can be successfully combined with limewater during periods of low evaporation when limewater may be temporarily limited and not meet demand (as during rainy cool weather).."

 

[Gregcoyote]

Aquariums for decades have been successfully run with just Kalkwasser addition. Add whatever you want to add.

 

[MikeYQM]

Also of note, kalk can cause magnesium levels to drop. It can also cause a little phosphate drop. One is good, one is bad.

A myth is that kalk loses potency when exposed to air. While it does occur on a minor scale, it won't have noticeable impact on your dosing. I mix a months supply at a time. I never stir it after mixing either.

But yeah, skip the Purple Up. It won't help much if at all.