# coralline algae/purple up



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I use purple up to accelerate coralline algea.I have no trouble that I am aware of.However I have slowed my use and possibly noticed(maybe I see things{differently}),that what was hard pink coralline seems to be turningto green algae.Could this be and is it bad.Is purple up or coralline algae bad in any way?I have started to come back up to speed with purple up and think small area of green is turning back pink.Also the coralline grows everywhere.Is it bad to scrape off glass and let settle in tank?(I don't think so but wonder what others think or know).I also use Kent turbo calcium(why I slowed purple up).


----------



## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Green Coralline
Pink Coralline
Purple Coralline
Red Coralline
There is several different colors out there. No, its not a bad thing per say, but once you get it started, you'll wish you'd never found it, you'll be scraping it off everything.
Why use Purple up if your using a Calcium already. Thats basically all Purple Up is. If you want Coralline to grow, keep your eye on Magnesium1200-1400, ALk 8-12, Calcium 420-480. That will get you what you want. Keep Nitrates and Phosphates really, really low.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

nitrates and phos are o. I slowed using purple up when I became more consistent with calcium.I just saw small spots of pink turning green and had know.It is everywhere(the pink)the solution (P U ) settles on everything and then you get pink.Iread youer link on my co2 questions also .thanks.I know thiels books are old and no where near up to date,but really curious about co2.Theil states when using co2 reactor to keep kh at 15.I don't keep mine that high but is that just old outdated also.Reasoning higher kh helps stabelize ph to help with co2? I try to keep kh up to 11 but it drops to 9 in aweek(even with water changes), my calcium is between 400-460 (it to flucuates) and my mag was 1300 last time(terrible test procedure {sea chem test, sea chem mag}) The sea chem mag is the one with 0 ammonia. Itry to keep ph 8.2.


----------



## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Ain't nothing wrong with any of those numbers. How long has your system been set up?


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

1 year sept. I have had salts before(read, thought I understood , made my own filters{ and a couple for a lfs).My tank seems great. But cyano.Not massive ,just trying to stay even.


----------



## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Sump size? Any Macros growing? How much? different types? What else are you dosing besides CA?


----------



## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

I get Cyano from Vodka Dosing, but blow it off and it goes away. I also have 6400gph flow in a 240g tank. Yours?


----------



## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Also, might as well get everything from you. What are you feeding, and how often? Including coral food.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

mag 9.5 main pump. Marineland biowheel model 2 sump (wheel removed, put phos gaurd and such in space.}Red sea C skim protien skimmer(beast), then 2separate 29 gallon tanks in series(using 1 1/2 inch syphon tubes) growing calurp racmosa( small grapes super invasive in tank).I have red grapes(gracil..) growing like mad on mag 5 feeding p.s. and a red leafy(almost seaweed) in overflow from tank. 6 hydors ranging from 250gph to 750 gph all on same timer every other 15 minutes during day,none at night. pics are posted in my gallery 75 reef & filter.I add kent; superdkh(for ph), kent coral builder for kh and turbo calcium.I use sea chem mag . Kent iodide,kent strontium&molybdenum,kent iron& magnese.I also use selcon in food and added to water.Bio plastics installed 2-3 weeks ago.20-30 gallon water change every weekend ,sometimes middle of week also.Also have halmedia in tank growing on LR. And the occasional cyano.Also have battled the red fuzz.Know what i mean. Read large turbo snails were the solution(only one) so maybe 5 or 6 in sumps. They were great in beginning, but as soon as they found red grapes, thats all they wanted.They change sumps through syphons to get to it.I feed mysis shrimp 1cube hkari, 1 cube pe, and either frozen prawn or krill.Occasionally (not often ,1xa month) I'll give the 75 my 29 filter feeder mix(dt phyto,julian sprung marine snow, reef nutrition oyster feast,reef nutrition roti feast 1 cube of baby bs and nutramar ova) all mixed up. The 29 gets that a nd hikari mysis x2 daily.


----------



## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

*J/D*
Man, I need to get a notebook out for this one.
Only thing, I mean only thing I see wrong that would put excess nutrients in the water is way to much feeding.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I think the best food for corals comes from the 9 cleaner shrimp after molting(every 2-3 weeks each one). They develope eggs that are released at night and never seen again.I heard they are delicous! Just put 2 cleaners in 29 also hoping they help feed feather star(2 months now seems healthy and happy).the kent supplements besides main 3(ph ,kh, cal) only get added 1-2x a month.Kinda thought water changes should replace missing , but waterchanges don't keep up with ph,kh,or cal.They could be weekly if needed(whatever test say).I try for 8.2 ph 11 kh 420-440 calcium.The 75 eats em.


----------



## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

coralbandit said:


> mag 9.5 main pump. Marineland biowheel model 2 sump (wheel removed, put phos gaurd and such in space.}Red sea C skim protien skimmer(beast), then 2separate 29 gallon tanks in series(using 1 1/2 inch syphon tubes) growing calurp racmosa( small grapes super invasive in tank).I have red grapes(gracil..) growing like mad on mag 5 feeding p.s. and a red leafy(almost seaweed) in overflow from tank. 6 hydors ranging from 250gph to 750 gph all on same timer every other 15 minutes during day,none at night. pics are posted in my gallery 75 reef & filter.I add kent; superdkh(for ph), kent coral builder for kh and turbo calcium.I use sea chem mag . Kent iodide,kent strontium&molybdenum,kent iron& magnese.I also use selcon in food and added to water.Bio plastics installed 2-3 weeks ago.20-30 gallon water change every weekend ,sometimes middle of week also.Also have halmedia in tank growing on LR. And the occasional cyano.Also have battled the red fuzz.Know what i mean. Read large turbo snails were the solution(only one) so maybe 5 or 6 in sumps. They were great in beginning, but as soon as they found red grapes, thats all they wanted.They change sumps through syphons to get to it.I feed mysis shrimp 1cube hkari, 1 cube pe, and either frozen prawn or krill.Occasionally (not often ,1xa month) I'll give the 75 my 29 filter feeder mix(dt phyto,julian sprung marine snow, reef nutrition oyster feast,reef nutrition roti feast 1 cube of baby bs and nutramar ova) all mixed up.* The 29 gets that a nd hikari mysis x2 daily*.


Not sure i'm following this right, but, this is what i'm referring to.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

on coralline topic ; would vinegar be safe to use to clean(soak)hydor power heads? Since cal based and in high ph enviroment it would seem reasonable that this would be low cost maint. if safe and effective.It does grow everywhere, but with less PU it seemed to change color.Does color matter? Is all coralline the same?


----------



## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Coralline growth in color is based off whats in that tank in different degrees. Its all basically the same, with the exception of Red. Its growth is very different than that others.
Yea, you can clean, soak powerheads to clean them off, providing they are rinsed before use. And when i meant everywhere, i mean everywhere. You'll learn to hate it. Some think of it as nuasance algae.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

it appears with out PU it would change to other color form. Repeating(that means it's been said {but not how many times}) "it's everywhere!" thanks madness your insight is what i'm here for(still{who wants quanity over quality?). I want the best not more!I am considering the value of coralline.Is it just looks or value.Seems to me it competes for ca with other more delicate things that need it?This is sw thread? yea?


----------



## bcsman (Aug 13, 2012)

After using purple up from Kent Marine, I did notice an increase in green algae, but no purple. I did purchase the live purple coralline from Reef Starter and after adding their live coralline to my tank I noticed a growth of purple coralline in one week. I used the 2oz of reef starter in my 20 gallon tank.


----------



## minez (May 4, 2013)

bcsman said:


> After using purple up from Kent Marine, I did notice an increase in green algae, but no purple. I did purchase the live purple coralline from Reef Starter and after adding their live coralline to my tank I noticed a growth of purple coralline in one week. I used the 2oz of reef starter in my 20 gallon tank.


Sounds great. Any update for the Reef Starter? Was it really works to grow coralline algae?


----------

