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I have been looking at saltwater tanks on this site, and realized that all the rocks and tanks were covered in purple. What is that stuff? I know its good stuff how do you grow it?
I've heard good things about "purple-up", but I don't like to add chemicals to my tank, so I can't say from experience. You could look around for LR that has good coraline growth on it and place it in your tank. I have heard that LR.com sells good LR for coraline, but again, no personal experience.
Make sure your doing small frequent water changes. At least fifteen percent at least once a week. A good salt mix will replenish the needed levels to grow Coraline.
When doing tank maintenance, and providing you have some rock with a little Coraline on it, scratch at it with your thumb nail here and there to spread the spores.
I have also had an lfs tell me to add a small urchin to the tank. They will feed on Coraline but in the process break lose and spread spores and actually contribute to its spread. I do not however know how sound this advice is and would think that in the absence or easier alga's for the urchin to eat your Coraline could disappear pretty quickly.
the best way to get coraline algae to grow is to introduce it. check out www.garf.org for mail order coraline. You can also get some nice incrusted LR from the LFS to help. To an extent, good lighting will help this algae to grow but, as mentioned, the proper ALK/CA levels are most important.
When I first started my tank I asked about purple up etc. Most everyone told me not to waste my money. Now as I scrape it off my acrylic constantly I am glad I took their advise. As Lando said " proper ALK/CA levels are most important."
hmm the thing is, its not like i dont have any purp at all, its just that they are very very lil purp dots. I see your tanks like filled with purp!!! its crazy my tank is still white compared to you guys..maybe i should put up pics. let me try to.
Regular PWC's should keep your Ca/Alk at a decent level, assuming you don't have any Ca/Alk demanding corals, etc. FWIW Some salt mixes have better Ca/Alk ratios than others. HTH
I havent done a thing and my coraline grows great. I've had the tank for about 6 mos now and there is coraline everywhere. I do water changes about once a month and have regular old flourescent lighting. The only chemical I add is Kents essential elements but I dunno if that does anything or not :?
It is really worth investing in a set of test kits, IMHO. When I got my first saltwater tank started, and bought test kits a few days later, my Ca++ level was at 240 mg/L (ppm). I stopped using that brand of salt since then, and was able to correct the problem fairly quickly, but if you do not test for it you will never know. Besides, a $10 kit will get you 50 tests or so - good for a year or more.