Kick starting coraline algae on LR

+1 to this.
Go slow and let it grow.

 

If you are properly maintaining water chemistry with dosing or a reactor, there is absolutely no need for Purple Up. If you are not maintaining water chemistry and you do use it without fully understanding the chemistry, you will likely crash your tank.

Do it the right way. Maintain Ca, alk and Mag, and don't worry about corailline growth. It will come on it's own.

 

Thanks guys,

What levels of Ca, Alk, and Mg should I be aiming for? I currently dont have test kits for these but I will definately grab some soon.

I am using RedSea Coral Pro Sea Salt, which says it has added Ca, Alk and Mg. This will surely be good when I get a few beginner corals?

Barbianj; What do you mean by crash your tank?

 

I too was using Coral Pro Salt but stopped after receiving a bad batch( which can sometimes happen).I have since switched back to Coralife which has always given me great results.If you are going with beginner corals the added Cal,Mag,and Alk, in Red Sea is really not necessary.
Ideally for beginner corals you want Alk. in the 7-10 range,Calcium 400-450,and Mag. 1200-1350.(Basically you want your Mag to be about 3x your Calcium level to keep the Alk. and Calcium stable.)What Jerry means by crashing your tank is water chemistry is a very delicate balance and VERY complex.It is always best to use the KISS method when altering it.
As far as salts go really it is hard to beat I.O. or Reef Crystals for consistency. I have been to their facility and their testing is quite impressive.
It is not uncommon for newer people to wish for Coraline but when it starts to overun your tank galss or PH's you will be wishing it was gone.LOL
Also keep in mind that while corailine is very pretty it is basically like an SPS coral and will use up Alk., Cal., and Mag.
Beware of snake oil products the supplement industry is NOT regulated and companies can pretty much do and say what they want. I once purchased a liquid for fish that was supposed to make them do my dishes but I am still waiting here with a whole sink full.LOL

 

Great I will definitely look into those other types of salt. Is it ok to dose calcium through a reactor or magnesium?

I'm very keen to wait for my tank to mature abit more and get on top of the water chemistry thing which I am excited for since I have a degree in science. Then onto some beautiful corals!

 

Just curious, is dosing ok, or are reactors the way to go? Getting a little cramped in my sump...

 

Dosing is fine. You can get a mechanical doser or do so yourself. Reactors are unnecessary unless you have a large system with heavy SPS coverage. JMO