Sea-Lab Formula 28

[chavez]

whats wrong with purple up? i dont use it so tell me the way it really is. Although i have thought of getting some!!

[Ninong]

Id bet you'd find this product up on the shelf next to kick ich and purple up.

No thanks. My money is better spent on other things.

This stuff has been around for more than 20 years, according to someone on another board who has been in the hobby for more than 30 years. I think the advertising claims are meant to appeal to new hobbyists.

This is what the manufacturer claims: "As elements are depleted from solution, Formula 28 delivers exactly equivalent amounts to replace them."

What they mean by that is that the blocks gradually dissolve. How quickly they dissolve will be influenced by water flow, water temperature, pH and salinity. They don't really "control" anything because the blocks have no control over how fast they dissolve. If you place them in an area of high flow, they will dissolve faster. If you bury them in the sand bed, they will dissolve slower. If your pH is lower, they will dissolve faster. If you raise the water temperature, that will raise the rate of dissolution.

Lest I forget, the manufacturer recommends that you purchase their Sea-Lab Formula 14 blocks to use with their Formula 28 blocks. That's important.

If you choose to use them, just remember that they really don't control or maintain anything, much less release the exact ions as needed and only those ions. All they do is dissolve and release everything they have based on the variables I mentioned above that affect the rate of dissolution.

Would I use them? No.

Would I recommend them? No.

There are much better ways to do things.

[Ninong]

whats wrong with purple up? i dont use it so tell me the way it really is. Although i have thought of getting some!!

Purple-Up is manufactured and sold by a company that sells sand. Lots and lots of sand.

Purple-Up is aragonite sand (very, very fine aragonite sand) in water in a bottle. They add some other things in so that they can pad the ingredients but there are much, much better ways to add those elements anyway.

The hypothesis put forth by the people with all that sand to sell is that since aragonite sand is calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and since coralline algae spores settle on calcium carbonate substrates (as wells as the glass or acrylic walls of your aquarium, your powerheads, your magnetic glass scraper, etc.), then selling tiny particles of calcium carbonate (powdered aragonite sand) that you add to your aquarium sounds like a great way to make money. And just in case people laugh at that idea, let's add a few other ingredients and claim that it boosts calcium as well as other elements.

Does it work? I guess that's in the eye of the beholder but it can't work the way it's claimed to work. For starters, coralline algae spores will settle on just about everything in your aquarium if your water parameters are in range and if there are coralline algae spores in your system.

If you have decent live rock, or even indecent live rock, you should end up with coralline algae sooner or later -- maybe six weeks, maybe longer. Virtually all live rock actually does have some coralline algae and/or coralline algae spores somewhere even if you can't see it.

Before you know it, the problem won't be getting coralline algae, it will be getting rid of it.



P.S. -- If you want to make sure you have some coralline algae spores in your aquarium, just add a tiny piece of coralline-encrusted live rock, or even a few scrapings of coralline algae, to your tank. There are no coralline algae spores or scrapings in Purple-Up, just powdered aragonite sand and a few added ingredients.

Maintain appropriate water parameters and you will have more coralline algae than you know what to do with. Literally.

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

Thanks Ninong. Glad to see you around again.

[jimbodapimp]

Yeah, $1.95 is gonna break anyone!

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

Yeah, $1.95 is gonna break anyone!

That's about a year supply of calcium hydroxide .