cultivating coraline (purplish) algae

Not trying to hijack this thread but I have a question about coraline. A few months ago I moved my tank and the tank was dry for a night the coraline on the glass turned white because of this. Will it turn purple again in time?

 

Thanks, good observation on the plant. It is Halimeda and that is exactly why it is both of my tanks. It sucks up nitrate in order to grow. It does use Calcium also. By the way, there are no appreciable side effects from Purple Up. Perhaps in some peoples tanks, with their chemistry, some have experienced PH fluctuations but for the other 99% of us who have used it, it is fine with zero "side effects". It would be prudent to find your Mag, Calc and Alk parameters first so we/you know where the tank is and then establish a proper dosing and dosing schedule. Let us know.

 

u guys all rock. great thread and answers. i will let you know how things go. what i'm noticing is that even people who don't use purple-up still use some other products to keep up Mg/Ca/alk.

I will also look more into Halimeda plant, looks cool.

 

the best is to have a dosing regime that has component parts so to speak. mag/alk/cal all separate. you can't make corrections as well with mixed products. here is an article that will help explain it better:
Chemistry and the Aquarium

 

btw, do you use tap water for top offs?

 

You are correct. Reason behind this is simple. You have to understand that as coraline, hard corals grows and even Halimeda grow, they will consume Mg/Ca/Alk. If you don't dose these back into the system, growth will seize. Water changes alone are not enough to keep up with demand. I have noticed that as my tank gets older, I have had to raise the amount of supplements I dose.

It's like a never ending battle. But if you stay responsible, test and make adjustments often, your reef will be and stay in good shape..

I also agree with John M. Dosing seperate additives lets you somewhat control the ratios of Mg/Ca/Alk. For best results, they need to be at certain levels within one another..