Live rock color
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Kurt_Nelson
Aquarium Advice Addict
Did the rock have any color to start with? Coraline algae needs to be present on at least one of the rocks to spread to other areas of the tank. If you never had any on your rocks to start with (like if you started with dry "base" rock), it's not going to show up.
If you did start out with rock that had coralline, then what type of lighting do you have? How many watts? Also, what are your calcium and alkalinity levels?
If you did start out with rock that had coralline, then what type of lighting do you have? How many watts? Also, what are your calcium and alkalinity levels?
Kurt_Nelson
Aquarium Advice Addict
I would not use PurpleUp until you exhaust all other issues. You say your Ca is low... how low is low? Also... how many watts of lighting?
In my opinion, you're going to want Ca levels at 380-420 or so, for good coraline coverage. My tank started out great, but then it all started to turn white. I hadn't been testing for Ca levels and found that I was down to 340ppm or so. Depending on what salt you use, you may have to dose with a 2-part Ca additive (C-Balance, or B-ionic, or the equivalent) or TurboCalcium to get your levels back up.
I've heard very mixed things about PurpleUp. Some swear by it, others swear that it messed up their tank. I'd get a handle on your water parameters first before adding those miracle cures in a bottle.
In my opinion, you're going to want Ca levels at 380-420 or so, for good coraline coverage. My tank started out great, but then it all started to turn white. I hadn't been testing for Ca levels and found that I was down to 340ppm or so. Depending on what salt you use, you may have to dose with a 2-part Ca additive (C-Balance, or B-ionic, or the equivalent) or TurboCalcium to get your levels back up.
I've heard very mixed things about PurpleUp. Some swear by it, others swear that it messed up their tank. I'd get a handle on your water parameters first before adding those miracle cures in a bottle.
Sadielynn
Aquarium Advice Addict
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I use(d) purple up it is great but you need to know that it also contains iodine in it ..
If you are dosing underdose it and test your CA , ALk and your iodine , dosing daily is a recipie for disaster as it takes abit of time for it to mix and raise levels ... I have had it crash a tank (nano ) since I tested and dosed every day per instructions ,, upon the crash I tested and everything was sky high. So do dose with caution.
If you have NO lights it will fade and bleach out , if possible you could get a small piece of LR with coraline on it to seed it again if you have none
If you are dosing underdose it and test your CA , ALk and your iodine , dosing daily is a recipie for disaster as it takes abit of time for it to mix and raise levels ... I have had it crash a tank (nano ) since I tested and dosed every day per instructions ,, upon the crash I tested and everything was sky high. So do dose with caution.
If you have NO lights it will fade and bleach out , if possible you could get a small piece of LR with coraline on it to seed it again if you have none
Kurt_Nelson
Aquarium Advice Addict
Sadielynn said:
Soooo... you recommend it, even though you used it per instructions and it crashed your tank? 8O You must be a very forgiving person!
I read an post somewhere else from a chemistry guru that I think summed up the issues with it well: If your water parameters (specifically pH and alk) are in a good range, then the stuff will dissolve like it's supposed to and everything is great. But if your water parameters are less than desirable, it won't dissolve but pretty much stay in your tank on the sand, rocks, etc. Since you don't see any results, you add more. And more. And more. Still nothing. You give up. Later, when your pH/alk levels return to an OK level, the stuff will dissolve and blow all your levels sky high.
fijiwigi
Aquarium Advice Addict
I am wondering about the spread of coraline algae. I have some rocks that I ordered online that have some really awesome coraline algae coverage on them that showed up after about 1 month in my tank. And I have some other rocks I got at the lfs that still have no coraline algae at all. Do the rocks have to be touching for it to spread or if you just have 1 rock with coraline algae will it spread throughout the entire tank because it is in the water?? Will 1 or 2 rocks with awesome coraline algae coverage seed all of the rock? If so is this something that usually takes like a years or months. Just curious if anyone has had an experience similar to this. Also what happens if you have too much calcium not that I do just curious about the flip side of overdosing the calcium how does that crash a tank??
Sadielynn
Aquarium Advice Addict
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I forgot to add that I was dosing other stuff as well inperticular iodide, it already has that in it ...I was dosing every day with it , and found that with a smaller tank that 2-3 times aweek was plenty ... I have good growth but this did excellerate it I also dont dose the full ammount any more ... I just dose about 2 units per dosing and only 2-3 times aweek and have found that it works fine with that schedule ....it was also a very small pico/nano 1- gallon and in the 10 it killed the shrimp due to the overdosing of iodine ...the 1 gallon had a percipitation storm that killed off some shrooms and a small head of frogspawn.... but then I dosed it too high ...The tanks we are now dealing with are quite a bit larger and offer a bit more room for error .... I dose low and test at the end of the day if I see that I need more the next day I test and add ....but never 2x in a day .Kurt_Nelson said:
You just need to have it in your tank it will get to the other rocks ...Too much calcium can cause a percipitation in your tank ( cloudy , almost looks like a snow storm).. It can take months for it to get to all your rocks and become deep purple coralinefijiwigi said:
Kurt_Nelson
Aquarium Advice Addict
While I'm no chemist, I believe when the Ca precipitates out, it also plays havoc with your alkalinity and your pH. Here's an awesome, no-nonsense article on the roles of Ca and Alk in your tank, and how to manage them...
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm
You don't need purple up or any other chemical to get coraline algae. My tank did start out with a few pieces of live rock that had coraline algae. I started with 50 pounds of LR and 50 pounds of base rock (marco rock which is almost white)., After about 3/4 months all rock in the tank was purple. At that time I did not dose anything. Over the last month I began dosing Kalk into my tank. Now if I put a piece of base rock in my tank it will be completely covered in coraline algae and totally purple in a month or so. I don't know if it is because of the Kalk additive or because the tank is healthy and full of coraline algae.
