Purpleup??
- Thread starter joshr
- Start date
spiderwoman
Active Member
Just a tip... never dose your tank with anything you don't test for.
schnutzzy
Member
How long has your tank been up? If your going to dose with purple up you need to test your calcium. If your tank is new, then I am pretty sure it's not the purple up working after one day. Coraline is gradual even when dosing and like the other post says if you don't test calcium you could overdose and nuke the tank.
joshr
Member
My tank has been set up for 2-3 weeks(my memory kills me)
HEres what I have been doing
Last wnesday until last Friday I was adding Kent marine Superbuffer because I tested it at my LFS and it was low. When i came back Friday it was like 8.2 or somewhere in the safe range.
Friday I picked up Kent marine Liquid Calcium Concentrated Iodine Essential Elements and Purpleup
My doseage was suppose to be 1/2 capefull every Friday and Tuesday
HEres what I have been doing
Last wnesday until last Friday I was adding Kent marine Superbuffer because I tested it at my LFS and it was low. When i came back Friday it was like 8.2 or somewhere in the safe range.
Friday I picked up Kent marine Liquid Calcium Concentrated Iodine Essential Elements and Purpleup
My doseage was suppose to be 1/2 capefull every Friday and Tuesday
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
My friend, you need a test kit. Taking the water to your LFS to test is a pain, and an unnecessary waste of gas if you trek out to the LFS every time you should test. I use the API test kit and am moderately happy with it. The basic saltwater test kit is a good start, but you will also want to add a calcium, carbonate hardness, and phosphate test to the basic set. These aren't expensive, and you have the satisfaction in knowing exactly what your parameters are at any given time of night or day.
I worry that your LFS is pushing stuff on you that you may not need yet. If your tank is just recently set up, you probably don't need much right now anyway. Chemicals like calcium and iodine are used by invertabrates and corals to build up their exoskeletons. Do you have any shrimp, crabs, or corals right now? You really should still be cycling the tank (in other words, no fishies and certainly no corals) right now, so I don't see that you would need a calcium supplement. Coraline algae will grow on its own anyway. Also, if your pH is low right now, your best bet is to do a water change first before you think about a buffer. You should be doing this anyway if you're cycling the tank.
I'm not trying to bust your derierre here..... Lord knows we ALL made mistakes when starting out, and, like everything else in the world, there is a degree of learning curve involved here. For your immediate situation, I strongly recommend you get the test kits I mentioned above. They're easy to use. And you should be testing at least twice a week -- I shoot for every third day. This way you will always know what's up, what's down, and what chemicals you will need to dose.
One final note: do NOT bother with the test strips. They are not accurate. Get the chemistry set....it's more effective, and fun!
I worry that your LFS is pushing stuff on you that you may not need yet. If your tank is just recently set up, you probably don't need much right now anyway. Chemicals like calcium and iodine are used by invertabrates and corals to build up their exoskeletons. Do you have any shrimp, crabs, or corals right now? You really should still be cycling the tank (in other words, no fishies and certainly no corals) right now, so I don't see that you would need a calcium supplement. Coraline algae will grow on its own anyway. Also, if your pH is low right now, your best bet is to do a water change first before you think about a buffer. You should be doing this anyway if you're cycling the tank.
I'm not trying to bust your derierre here..... Lord knows we ALL made mistakes when starting out, and, like everything else in the world, there is a degree of learning curve involved here. For your immediate situation, I strongly recommend you get the test kits I mentioned above. They're easy to use. And you should be testing at least twice a week -- I shoot for every third day. This way you will always know what's up, what's down, and what chemicals you will need to dose.
One final note: do NOT bother with the test strips. They are not accurate. Get the chemistry set....it's more effective, and fun!
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
By the way, if the tank we're talking about is the same one as your avatar, then you've got a great setup there! I like the way you have the live rock arranged!
grabbitt
Active Member
General rule of thumb: If the LFS says it- proceed with caution
If it involves them making a profit, chances are integrity is going to be taken down a couple notches.
If you don't know about a fish/coral/invert/product from this or another forum before you go to the LFS, put it on hold, and double-check with those who care (us!)
If it involves them making a profit, chances are integrity is going to be taken down a couple notches.
If you don't know about a fish/coral/invert/product from this or another forum before you go to the LFS, put it on hold, and double-check with those who care (us!)
reefkprz
Active Member
Originally Posted by Joshr
http:///forum/post/2602450
My tank has been set up for 2-3 weeks(my memory kills me)
a suggestion,
start a log book, write dowbn what you did on what day, that way you dont make a mistake and double up on something potentially dangerous. one highly expirienced reefer once told me (and many others) if you dont write it down maybe you never did it.
a reccomendation
I agree with others that you should NEVER dose anything you cant test for, purple up doses both calcium and iodine, Iodine is a really easy element to OD on and can wreak havok in your tank. I reccomend against using purple up unless you can test for BOTH iodine and calcium, and only use it if you are low on both elements.
http:///forum/post/2602450
My tank has been set up for 2-3 weeks(my memory kills me)
a suggestion,
start a log book, write dowbn what you did on what day, that way you dont make a mistake and double up on something potentially dangerous. one highly expirienced reefer once told me (and many others) if you dont write it down maybe you never did it.
a reccomendation
I agree with others that you should NEVER dose anything you cant test for, purple up doses both calcium and iodine, Iodine is a really easy element to OD on and can wreak havok in your tank. I reccomend against using purple up unless you can test for BOTH iodine and calcium, and only use it if you are low on both elements.
tomato clown
Member
Purpleup is made to initiate the growth of coraline algea and when using you need not add any other chemicals sich as iodine or calcium to the tank. When the rock is "new" then it helps to stimulate the growth, but will not actually give you coral. You'll just see the color.
I was dosing 1/4capfull daily because I had no coraline algea on the rock, but after 2 weeks it started to appear and then I stopped using it all together. (Keep in mind though I had extremely low Iodine and Calcium levels, so it didn't hurt my tank at all. It got me back onto the positive side.)
The LFS told me to dose with a full cap daily till the bottle was empty, but IMO that's just pointless overkill. The bottle should and probably will last me though 3-4 more new tank setups.
I was dosing 1/4capfull daily because I had no coraline algea on the rock, but after 2 weeks it started to appear and then I stopped using it all together. (Keep in mind though I had extremely low Iodine and Calcium levels, so it didn't hurt my tank at all. It got me back onto the positive side.)
The LFS told me to dose with a full cap daily till the bottle was empty, but IMO that's just pointless overkill. The bottle should and probably will last me though 3-4 more new tank setups.
flricordia
Active Member
I tryed it out when it fist became available and after a month or so didn't really notice any difference. I get excellent coralline with Kent liquid calcium and kalk dosing. Always have. Just wanted to try the purple up out when I first saw it. Felt like I was wasting money.
joshr
Member
Originally Posted by novahobbies
http:///forum/post/2603021
By the way, if the tank we're talking about is the same one as your avatar, then you've got a great setup there! I like the way you have the live rock arranged!
Yep thats the one were talking about
http:///forum/post/2603021
By the way, if the tank we're talking about is the same one as your avatar, then you've got a great setup there! I like the way you have the live rock arranged!
Yep thats the one were talking about
joshr
Member
Originally Posted by prime311
http:///forum/post/2606526
What are you bumping for? I think the questions been answered already
My fishie store told me to add it again today
http:///forum/post/2606526
What are you bumping for? I think the questions been answered already
My fishie store told me to add it again today