Coralline Algae

[Chameleon Bob]

What's the best way to promote Coralline Algae? Any luck with Purple up?

[Ninong]

What's the best way to promote Coralline Algae?

Maintain proper levels of calcium, alkalinity and patience.

Any luck with Purple up?

I don't understand why anyone would buy this stuff in the first place. It's basically aragonite silt in a bottle.

[Chameleon Bob]

Alright that answers that question. Now for another, The green, yellow and white coralline are they harder to grow then the red and purple? I got green and yellow but they don't spread like the purple.

[Ninong]

There are various species of coralline algae and their light requirements vary. Some species prefer less light than others. I don't believe I have ever heard of white coralline algae and I'm not so sure about a true yellow coralline algae either. If you started out with halfway decent live rock, it came with various species of coralline algae even if you didn't notice much when you first placed it in your aquarium.

Just leave your tank alone and let nature take its course. If you maintain your water parameters properly, coralline algae will thrive in your aquarium. Just take my word for it. You will have more than you really want all over the place.

[Ninong]

Here are some examples of coralline algae beginning to show up on live rocks in my aquarium within the first few months after the tank was set up.


Two months after tank started.



Three months after tank started.






Two to three months.


Four months.



Six months.

[Chameleon Bob]

Great looking tank!! I've posted 2 pics one of them is of the white stuff I'm calling algae. Please let me know what it might be. I'm still needing to add 50 lbs of rock. Where do you all buy from.

[Ninong]

Three points:

1) I haven't purchased any live rock in seven years, so I certainly don't have any recent rexperience on that front. Besides, the Kingdom of Tonga banned all shipments of live rock from there a little over a year ago and live rock from other sources is very limited right now.

2) I can't see well at all right now because I had eye surgery in November and I don't have new prescription eyeglasses yet. So I'm in no shape to look at anyone's tank pics and tell them what I think I may be seeing.

3) This forum is for "care, health and disease treatment" of marine fish, not for discussion of coralline algae or other reef-related matters. I'm sure Lee won't mind at all if we move this thread to the Reef Aquariums forum where you might get more opinions.

[Ninong]

This photo was taken about two and a half months after my tank was set up.



There are three types of live rock in this tank: Tonga Kaelini, Tonga branch and Fiji branch. You can see some Tonga branch behind the Ricordea yuma and also that Y-shaped upright piece that is tied to an upright acrylic rod with a very obvious black plastic electrical tie.

The live rock at the upper left in the photo that is tied to that horizontal acrylic rod is Fiji branch, as is that piece of live rock to the upper right of that Y-shaped piece of Tonga branch. The rest of the live rock that is visible in that picture is Tonga Kaelini, by far my favorite. (Except that one piece of Fiji branch directly behind the foxface rabbitfish.) I hated the Fiji branch and eventually removed almost all of it and gave it to a friend.

You can't get any Tonga live rock anymore. Hopefully they will work through that situation and get it moving again soon. The government of Tonga wants stricter collection laws in place first.

[Parrothead]

Bob,

Get with Chicagoreef when he comes on-line, he got some real nice totoka rock from a lfs in his area, not far from you, same price as on-line vendors are selling it for, you would want to cure it out in a seperate tub, this rock is light weight and very porous, good stuff, just takes a while to fully cycle in thats why I said use a seperate tub

[zhenya]

How big is the aquarium? From what I've seen in the picture it appears that you already have enough rock in there.
As far as the white stuff on the rock, it could possibly be bleached coralline algae. As Ninong said already, if you maintain water parameters your rock will be covered in dark and light purple in due time.

[Chameleon Bob]

I got a 55 with around 80 lbs of pretty dense rock, the extra 50 lbs I want is so I can cover the entire back of the aquarium and to hide the overflow. If the coralline is bleached does that mean it's dead? Could it spread the way it is?

[Bloodydecks]

Chamelean Bob,

If your alkalinity and calcium levels, along with your lighting are at the right levels, then yes your caroline algae will slowly grow over time...but in my own experience, the use of "purple up" has increased the growth rate, basically at lease doubling it.

I don't understand why people have a hard time accepting the fact that this product works. It cost lest the $20, and a bottle will last your for months. So the expense is minimal. I normally dose my tanks once per week with half the recommend amount. And I add it to the auto top tank so it doses the tank daily with small amounts.
If I can find some old pics and some curreewnt pics, I will post them. I lost 90% of my pics a few years ago when my compter crashed *&^$#. No back up *&##!

You should give it a try. You have nothing to lose....and i think you will be surprised how with the results.

[metalhead]

Double post - Sorry - Please disregard.

[metalhead]

Chamelean Bob,

If your alkalinity and calcium levels, along with your lighting are at the right levels, then yes your caroline algae will slowly grow over time...but in my own experience, the use of "purple up" has increased the growth rate, basically at lease doubling it.

I don't understand why people have a hard time accepting the fact that this product works. It cost lest the $20, and a bottle will last your for months. So the expense is minimal. I normally dose my tanks once per week with half the recommend amount. And I add it to the auto top tank so it doses the tank daily with small amounts.
If I can find some old pics and some curreewnt pics, I will post them. I lost 90% of my pics a few years ago when my compter crashed *&^$#. No back up *&##!

You should give it a try. You have nothing to lose....and i think you will be surprised how with the results.

I think the problem that some people have with purple up is that the ingredients (at least those that are listed by the MFGR) are basically the same as aragonite sand with some kind of calcium compound added. I do agree with you though Bloody that it seems to promote coraline growth, or at least it seems to for me, in my tanks. A family friend of ours is a professor in the sciences department at a local university... I've been talking with him about getting an analasys done on a small sample of purple up. If/when that ever happens I will post the results for all to see and then we'll know what's in there for sure. In the meantime though I'll have to side with Bloody and say that it is worth trying, just use it sparingly as with any kind of chemical addative.

[Chameleon Bob]

I took pictures of all my rock last night and I will go get a bottle of purple up and compare pictures along the way. Doesn't the purple up also have calcium and iodine in it? if so do I need to add calcium and iodine along with purple up?

[Parrothead]

you will have to test the cal and alk as you dose, there are some really good articles and recipes that you should check out before you decide on the best method, look at the latest pics in my thread, I don't dose any thing, and I've got coraline coming out my ears

[Ninong]

Doesn't the purple up also have calcium and iodine in it? if so do I need to add calcium and iodine along with purple up?

The primary ingredient in Purple Up is powdered aragonite sand. The manufacturer makes the claim that this powdered aragonite will increase your calcium levels and provide a substrate for settlement of coralline algae spores.

Aragonite will not and cannot even begin to dissolve in seawater unless the pH drops below 7.8. In other words, it doesn't dissolve at normal reef aquarium pH and it only even begins to dissolve once the pH falls to around 7.7 or less. How then can it raise calcium levels?

If you run a calcium test after having added Purple Up, the powdered aragonite that is in the water actually WILL dissolve in your test kit, giving a FALSE high test result.

Since the primary ingredient in Purple Up is aragonite sand, the manufacturer can claim that it contains any and every element known to exist in aragonite. Which, incidentally, is why we use aragonite as the media in our calcium carbonate-carbon dioxide reactors. It's the addition of CO2 to the aragonite media that causes it to dissolve, thereby providing ALL of the needed elements to the aquarium in the proper proportions.

The manufacturer claims that Purple Up (tiny particles of aragonite) will provide a calcium-carbonate substrate for the settlement of coralline algae spores. Your live rock provides a calcium-carbonate surface for the settlement of coralline algae provided there is any open surface that is not already covered by coral or something else.

The product is sand in a bottle. Add it if you like. Be aware that your calcium test results will be false until after the powdered aragonite has settled down from the water. I would wait at least 24 hours after adding this powdered aragonite sand before testing calcium.

The manufacturer sells another product called AragaMILK. This is another completely unnecessary product that cannot work as advertised.

Those products are completely unnecessary. If you would like a chemical analysis of exactly why, then just google "Purple Up + Randy Holmes-Farley."

Here is one thread in which Randy replies to a hobbyist who thinks that Purple Up is actually working for him: Here. Be sure to follow the link Randy provided to his article discussing the results of testing products such as Purple Up and AragaMILK.



P.S. -- Never add pollutants like iodine or strontium to your tank UNLESS you have tested for them and found them to be deficient. NSW iodine = 0.06 ppm (all forms), NSW strontium = 9 ppm. There is no need to maintain iodine or strontium above those levels. Excess iodine and excess strontium are both toxic.

[Bloodydecks]

Chameeon Bob,

If it does have iodine, how much i don't know. It also has calcium. Is that from the Aragonite, or from additives, i don't know, and I don't know the amounts. I guess i could do some simple calcium and alkalinity tests, as well as strontium and idonine test.

I just like the product, so i recommend it.

I have read several negative comments here about the product, but with out a reason explaining the comment.

If someone could tell me why they don't like it, other then they think its a scam, because they think its just aragonite sand and water, I am all ears.

My personal experience is that it works..and the cost is really nothing. I have not seen any negative effect from it. Only faster growing coralline.

I do agree, there are a ton BS products out there. I only comment on the ones that I truly believe will do what they claim. And there isn't many. LOL

[Parrothead]

Here is a couple pics of some rock that has never seen purple up, calicum additives etc. All I do is regular water changes and maintain my hardware properly.

The first 2 picks are a couple weeks old, the middle pics is the rock when I first got it about 2 months ago, the last is the same two pieces of rock 5 minutes ago.

Again, no additives, just regular water changes and maintaining the hardware.

[Bloodydecks]

Ninong

Thanks for the links and your comments.

I read "Most" of Randy's article. I'm not a chemist, so I admit, it was a little dry to read, and difficult to follow at times.

I can only go from experience. Once i stared adding the product, i saw huge increase in the growth of my coralline algae. Maybe it just gave the extra chemical boost that my tank was lacking, and triggered the increased growth.

I will continue to use the product.

Can i ask, have you used it?