how to get purple coraline ?

[81Shaun]

I was just wondering what would be the best way to get coraline to take off. im just doing a fish only setup and was curious what needs to be done to get this to thrive? would reef crystals salt be a better start then the regular instant ocean? im planning on setting up coral down the road but for now would like to get purple coraline started in a fish only nano. do products such as purple up really work or is that a waste of time and money? I appologize if theres a bunch of threads on this topic . I was curious if the lighting on my nano would be good enough? as im assuming it is since people keep coral in these tanks. thanks in advance

 

[mike007]

Purple up works.Also you need to seed the tank with coralline from a live rock or scrapings of it to get it started. Maintain parameters especially calcium and it will take off.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Nitrates under 30
Calcium 380-460
Alk 7-12dKH
Magnesium 1250-1350 At least 1350
Phosphates under .05
SG 1.025
Then introduce it to your tank.
Purple Up raises dissolved calcium levels, don't use it.

 

[DSP]

Don't waste your money on purple up imo, What lighting do ya have? More blue light really makes Coraline go nuts, And like Mike mentioned maintain steady water parameters and seed the tank with some Coraline and it should grow fine but it could take a few months to get started in a new tank and that's completely normal.

 

[mike007]

I have used purple up and yes It will Increase calcium but that's a good thing and It helps.

 

[81Shaun]

Don't waste your money on purple up imo, What lighting do ya have? More blue light really makes Coraline go nuts, And like Mike mentioned maintain steady water parameters and seed the tank with some Coraline and it should grow fine but it could take a few months to get started in a new tank and that's completely normal.

The lighting is two 36 watt compact flourscents. just the lighting that comes factory installed in the hood. would this be okay ? thanks

 

[mike007]

I had pc on one of my tanks and coralline grew fine.

 

[81Shaun]

so I should run sg to 1.025 in fowlr in order for this to take off ? anyone know roughly of about how much mag and calcium runs using reef crystals? I heard that the calcium runs higher from reef crystals. so thought about using reef crystals instead of the regular instant ocean, for that reason. plus going to go with coral sometime. thoughts? thanks everyone for the help.

 

[Reefing Madness]

In order for it to take off, you must run the tank like it was a Reef. Coralline uses the same things as corals do. If you don't want it, keep your SG where its at and just use Instant Ocean.

 

[*SENSI*]

i myself jus did 10% water changes every week an changed from Metal Halide to led, an wat little bit i had growing i scraped it off here an there an crunched it up in a pill bottle added tank water an let it flow in the current,

this is wat it looked like when i got the tank october 2013 an this is a year later october 2014

 

[81Shaun]

Thanks reefing, will just setup that way like reef but my lfs says he keeps sg low to help with parasites but im not sure on what sg he is running. so should i setup my qt at 1.025 and acclimate to that? or just set up qt like 1.022 or 1.023 then drip again to 1.025 of my final dt? just so it's not a super fast change.

 

[81Shaun]

i myself jus did 10% water changes every week an changed from Metal Halide to led, an wat little bit i had growing i scraped it off here an there an crunched it up in a pill bottle added tank water an let it flow in the current, this is wat it looked like when i got the tank october 2013 an this is a year later october 2014

wow, looks awesome and really like how your tank is designed . so looks like the lighting really made the difference. I understand that a lot of people find it a nuisance but to me really makes the tank look nice.

 

[reepher]

not to be off topic but SENSI that is an awesome tank. Ive never seen one with a warped bow front. Ive also scrapped off coraline, crushed it and added it back to the tank. Deff helps the process especially if putting it all over your dry LR.

 

[kwroberto]

I have a 5 gallon nano,and it 6 months old, I just got coraline algae to grow. It takes time, dont waste ur money on purple up, if u want to supplement get a good calcium supplement and dose that. Keep ur parameters stable, good lighting and TIME, it will start to grow. As for seeding it I didn't seed mine but I'm using fiji live rock that had coraline on it. Good luck

 

[Reefing Madness]

Thanks reefing, will just setup that way like reef but my lfs says he keeps sg low to help with parasites but im not sure on what sg he is running. so should i setup my qt at 1.025 and acclimate to that? or just set up qt like 1.022 or 1.023 then drip again to 1.025 of my final dt? just so it's not a super fast change.

If its used to keep parasites away then you'd need to keep it at 1.017 or lower. You can slowly raise it up over a week or 2 to get it up where it needs to be. You get your tank to Reef conditions, and you will see this ttuff take over, then you will be pulling your hair out wondering why you did it, trying to keep it off the glass.

 

[81Shaun]

If its used to keep parasites away then you'd need to keep it at 1.017 or lower. You can slowly raise it up over a week or 2 to get it up where it needs to be. You get your tank to Reef conditions, and you will see this ttuff take over, then you will be pulling your hair out wondering why you did it, trying to keep it off the glass.

lol yeah I heard be careful what i wish for as this can be a nuisance. but to me it really makes things look nice. how would I go about raising it? pull some water out then mix? ive never messed with trying to lower or raise it. sorry so many questions ill call tomorrow and see what sg my lfs is keeping it. he told me but i forget. im wondering if i should just setup my qt to what he keeping his tank now then raise to my setup of 1.025 after qt them for 6 weeks

 

[*SENSI*]

i was always told its jus a sign of a healthy tank, i personally like the purple stuff, sorry tank dates were wrong 2012-2013, but anywho thats a year, an yes lights made a big difference the old ones were by coralife 25,000k came with the tank, the ones on the 95 are jus white an blue an they do great, im working on a new build now cant wait to see it all lite up

but good luck with the purple stuff it will come

 

[81Shaun]

SENSI, that is awesome thanks for encouragement. yeah the purple looks sweeet and sets things off I believe . DSP, sorry didn't answer your question very well but the light is 36 watt 50/50

 

[*SENSI*]

if ur gonna stay with the 36 watt go full white an get blue led strips or switch 2 all led blue/white jus my opinion

 

[jstec]

I started running two full actinic t5s with one white instead of two white one actinic and now it's popping up everywhere could be a coincidence however my coral growth has increased as well