thoughts of purple up
- Thread starter manutd16
- Start date
UNDERTHESEA(PA)
In Memoriam
Purple Up contains Calcium, Iodine, Strontium and Magnessium. It works so well at growing coraline algae because of the 10 micron Aragonite, which also acts as an Alkalinity buffer. If you have some coraline growing in your tank, and want more then it is a great product. If you are looking for something to suppliment Calcium, Carbonate Alk, and any trace elements then I think there are better products out there. I dose Kalk because it stabilizes my Ph, but also dose B-Ionic as well. I have used Purple Up in tanks to give the coraline a boost though.
Steven Pro
New member
I am fairly certain Randy/Holmes-Farley reviewed this product in one of his aritcles.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
A few folks swear by it, others swear at it. A few of the guys in the club use it quite extensively. I tried it for a week (maybe 6 doses) and decided it cost to much and was not worth my time. It made my tank cluody (for almos the entire day each time) and there was no real list of ingrediants. I have tons of coraline and my tank is only 7 months or so old. New rocks added to the tank are covered in days, and the glass and PVC are starting to get thick coatings. I dose Randy's 2-part formula and no other suppliments. ALK stays between 10-11 DKH and CALCIUM averages about 435 or so.
no hater clubs
In Memoriam
If your tank has tons of coraline, then why did you have to use p-up?For p-up to work you must have some existing coraline.They like low lights, more on the deep blue side.If you read the the instruction.it tells you that your water will be cloudy for a little bit.I use it only on new system to get the coraline started,and on new curing live rocks.It works for me and I don't think it cost that much,compare.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
I put hte stuff in my new setup that had all base rock and 1 pound of live rock.
yes I read the bottle where it said "it may cloud the water'" however dosing this stuff as recomended caused the water to be cloudy for most of the day. TO me hardly worth the trouble.
Secondly, different types of coraline like different types of light. It is a misconception that it will not grow under bright light. Where my lights are the brightest, the coraline has encrusted the most.
Like I said, my tank is only 7 months old and I have tons of coraline. Would purple up have made it grow faster? I dunno, it may very well have. However, just keeping my alk and calcium stable grew it fast enough for me.
Bean
yes I read the bottle where it said "it may cloud the water'" however dosing this stuff as recomended caused the water to be cloudy for most of the day. TO me hardly worth the trouble.
Secondly, different types of coraline like different types of light. It is a misconception that it will not grow under bright light. Where my lights are the brightest, the coraline has encrusted the most.
Like I said, my tank is only 7 months old and I have tons of coraline. Would purple up have made it grow faster? I dunno, it may very well have. However, just keeping my alk and calcium stable grew it fast enough for me.
Bean
no hater clubs
In Memoriam
Calcium is really all you need, but some tanks got alot of stony corals that deprive coraline of growth. But I would take beautiful s.p.s and l.p.s over coraline any day. Once again different stoke for different folks.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
I just don't like the idea of putting stuff in the tank unless I know exactly what is in it. In the case of the purple up, I ended up not needing it. If the coraline would have not started on it's own, I may have ended up using the stuff (I still have almost a full bottle).
I am now using Randy's 2 part balanced additive system. As long as I don't forget, the levels stay pretty stable (though as the tank grows and and the coraline and SPS grow, my doses have had to increase).
Bean
I am now using Randy's 2 part balanced additive system. As long as I don't forget, the levels stay pretty stable (though as the tank grows and and the coraline and SPS grow, my doses have had to increase).
Bean
archaeoreefer
New member
There are quite a number of previous posts here at Reef Central in different forums inquiring about the efficacy of/need for this product. The concensus of opinion among those respondents to the posts I read was that the product provided little to no benefit if you were already dosing kalk, or some other two-part Ca/Alk additive. I suppose if you're not already doing this, there may be marginal benefit to its use. But, this marginal benefit seems unlikely to outweigh its costs (in $, and uncertainity about just what's in it), especially compared to cheap and highly effective additions of kalk.
I'll stress that I'm not speaking from personal experience, only as someone who previously considered using the product himself, then decided not to after asking around. Could be that its good for what ails 'ya, but I smell snake oil...
I'll stress that I'm not speaking from personal experience, only as someone who previously considered using the product himself, then decided not to after asking around. Could be that its good for what ails 'ya, but I smell snake oil...
no hater clubs
In Memoriam
P-Up is not a must need type of thing.You might want to look into an auto doser,so you can't forget to dose. That's how I dose my part A+B controled by an Octopus 3000,so as my corals grows the Octopus3000 automacticly up my dosing to the needs.That's not the only thing it control(temp,P.H,alk,opr,magnesium,strontium,iodine).It's pretty exspensive but it cuts my work down to almost none. all I really have to do is feed my fish and check on my cpu to make sure the Oct3000 gets all it need to matain my tank.Everything I dose,I buy in 5 gallon bucket so I only check about twice a year.But like i said it's very exspensive,but you can always dose by hand.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
I will be using a DIY auto-doser for my setup. I was going to buy the litermeters but they are just way to expesnive. I then decided to DIY using a few peristaltic pumps, but have since dropped that idea. I modified a kangaroo pump, but it is noisy and draws a ton of current. It is not compatible with a timer (without heavy modification).
I started to build a doser using syringes and a camed lever... but have since scrapped that idea for the simple airpump displacment method (similar to the b-ionic doser). Quiet, consistant and efficient.
My system will be controlled by a PC software I am in the process of writing. Inthe end the controller will be a PC and possibly an ATMEGA128 microcontroller.
Bean
I started to build a doser using syringes and a camed lever... but have since scrapped that idea for the simple airpump displacment method (similar to the b-ionic doser). Quiet, consistant and efficient.
My system will be controlled by a PC software I am in the process of writing. Inthe end the controller will be a PC and possibly an ATMEGA128 microcontroller.
Bean
archaeoreefer
New member
I've been using a NURCE siphon-based auto top-off for a while now. It's simple, and free of worries should the power go out. I add a perscribed amout of premixed kalk solution to the freshwater every few refills of the reservoir. Works great.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
not heard a peep about the NURCE in a while. I did not know they were still around.
archaeoreefer
New member
Ya, they're no longer made. I bought mine used, but I know a few hobbists still DIY them.
