Purple up

Well I haven't bought it yEt I was just asking. I'm planning on just having a FOWLR tank so is it still important to have these test kits?

 

not really IME

But ironically , thats exactly where I was in 2008
I had a FOWLR , some calerpa and brown rocks
I wanted coralline growth and decided to try purple up
I dosed in accordance with the instructions on the bottle
was also doing 10% weekly water changes at the time

In 2009 I decided I wanted to make the move to corals
and purchased the big 3 test kits, Mag, Calc and Alk

I used the Tropic Marin combined Mag, Calc test kit
1st drop of the calc - the colour change has happened = 500ppm or more Calcium
Magnesium - syringe empty and no colour change = over 1800 ppm Magnesium

the DKH test kit I had was a Tetra and it gave me 8 ( so at least I had one of the 3 within normal parameters LOL)

Now the above levels are not terrible, but they do show, I was using a supplement at a greater rate than demand required and thus pouring my money away.

Steve

 

Ok well thanks so much guys!!

 

Purple up is a marketing gimmick that preys on newbs to the hobby. I got suckered myself a couple of years ago. It's basically a very, very expensive (per ounce) of Magnesium, strontium, calcium.
Like said above get your test kits for mag, alk and calcium .. .. Keep those inline and as long as you have seeded the coraline it will grow if water params/lighting are to it's liking. (basically good quality water).
Sometimes you will see it turn white which means it's dying. Happens sometimes when you change bulbs and it's too much light for it. It seems to prefer lower light.

 

I actually still use it....I do 5-10% weekly water changes with Red Sea Pro salt, keep my parameters in check Ca=460, Kh=9-10, Nitrate= <3ppm, Salinity=1.025.temp= 78.5-79.9, Mg=1350and I add 1 cap of Purple up every Sunday....coraline is plating and I have been doing this for over 8 months on this 60gal reef tank,,,,,,so the moral of the story,,,,everyone has there own opinion and results.....if it is working for you why change?

 

fair points PierceEye
your using much less than the bottle instructions direct - Its 1 capful per 50 gallons per day IIRC - so your using 15% of the stated weekly dose and not having any issues
your also testing, which means you could compensate should you need to

so the moral of your story is " you know what your doing, and why you are doing it, and getting the results your targetting" then no reason for you to change" IMHO
although you may be able to save a little money, if you isolate the components required and dose them independantly


the old adage, dont dose anything your not testing for, applies to these single application supplements, same as it does for the individual components. your testing and as such, your not going to end up with any major parameter issues, doing what your doing IMO

Steve

 

I also dose Kent Strontium & Molybdenum (liquid), Kent Tech 1 (for my Iodide). Kent Superbuffer-dKH (dry type) and Reef Advantage Magnesium (crystals) once weekly....Not All At The Same Time......over 3 or 4 days...depends as I travel often.

Actually once your tank is stablized Purple up is recommended at 1 cap per 50gal per week...

Also make damn sure you use only RO/DI water......once cup of tap water will mess you up for weeks!

 

If you just set up your tank you should just concentrate on the basics right now. Wait till you can get the cycling over before getting into all the complicated stuff.