how to get purple algae

I still hold out that your tank is seeded and getting scrapings is something generally only necessary to introduce color variations.

Anywho – if you do the scrapings turn off the system for 30 minutes to let the spores land and adhere. After you turn on the system keep the skimmer off an additional 30 minutes. Keep levels up as suggested.

 

Actually I agree with you on that. You'll get coralline spores on almost anything you put in your tank. Live rock being the most common way, but you can get it on coral frags, snails, hermit crabs. I used base rock, but added a couple of hermit crabs that had some on there shells, and it is taking over in my tank now.

 

Mg is key because the coralline uses Mg to build itself. It's not so much that the Mg allows for a higher Ca concentration in the water, as the Ca is less important to coralline spreading. Coralline algae skeletons contain from 7 to 30% magnesium carbonate.

 

I always have read that they are mainly calcareous....perhaps that's what makes up the other 70%? can you share a reference link? I am curious - I still think Calcium is the key, but the key to calcium is Magnesium

 

+1
ask your self if you really know what your getting in to? anyone with very established(more then a few years old) tanks will probably tell you don't encourage it.

once you get it there is no going back, it will never stop growing because it likes the same conditions your corals do(maybe excluding very high light corals). It will block you view of the tank like regular algae. In my old tank my glass would completely cover with it in under a week. You better have a good supply of razor blades on you to scrape it off because its tough.

Personally I think it decreases the surface area of your live rock by encrusting the pores.

If you want it you will get it eventually. If you really want alot get a calcium reactor.

 

you say there is a lot of hair algae, so there must have been enough light to support photosynthetic animals. i think keeping your Mg up will do it.

 

No where on a bottle of "Purple Up" does it say it contains "CORALLINE". Infact it exactly states that "it contains No CORALLINE." So i dont understand how this company is misleading anybody? Essentially yes! Purple up does the same thing as other additives such as raising Calcium. So you statments that Corraline doesnt work is contradictary because if Purple up "Doesn't Work" then raising Calcium doesnt work.
Purple Up also replaces Iodine and Micron Aragonite which targets the elements to the surface of the live rock. Im not a chemist, so I cant say if any one ingredient in Purple Up does its job like it is suppose to but I do know, telling people this product doesnt worjk, is unfair to the company and unfair to any potential newbies, knowing the fact that I have used "purple Up" on my tank and it without a doubt accelarated the growth rate of Corraline in my tank and it is fact that it has worked for others as well. Its not the only way but it is a way.

 

I agree. I only mentioned Ca as an aside. Mg is key to coralline being out of control. Under 1400 and mine stops spreading (so fast) and over 1400 it's insane.

I do think Ca is important to coralline and I don't know what the ratio is, but I find any stable Ca at reef levels is fine for coralline while it responds to Mg at higher levels.

Mg is definitely key to Ca, no argument there. I've had good growth at Ca at 350 levels and good growth at 480 levels, but noticed a change in growth rate depending on Mg levels like I mentioned...

I'm not an expert, just my own observations in my tank.

Anyway, you may very well be right about it being mainly Ca, but I think Mg is the spark. (I'm mostly water, but I won't grow without a bit of iron too sort of thing-probably a terrible metaphor)

 

i dont think he was saying that purple up claims that it contains coraline, but instead that many people just think so from what they hear...

 

personally....I would be very happy to not have one lick of coraline in my tanks. I wanted it so badly because it looks cool......now I am regretting it because it is on the glass and my pumps and is a pain to remove