is purple up worth dosing?

[uwwmatt]

I use it about once or twice a week. I have had no ill effects as far as I can tell it helps my coralline growth.

[The Propagator]

Leann,

Have you checked to see if it has dissolved into a bio AVAILABLE source of calcium for your corals though ?

There are a lot of substances that will dissolve in water but that doesn't mean that whats being dissolved is going through the chemical process needed to convert it into a bio available source for your coral.

Which is the problem with aragonite based products.

I am not and have never said it would harm your aquarium or its inhabitants. I am simply stating it will do exactly jack for your LPS or SPS as far a a calcium additive because its in the wrong chemical composition to begin with for the environment its being introduced into. In order for aragonite based substances to buffer PH or act as a bio available calcium source they have to be introduced to carbonic acids ( a lot of them ) so much so that it would make the acidic environment in your tank such that the ph would be 6 or less. Ergo nothing would survive. What other ingredients are there in PU aside from aragonite ?

[Sexy Shrimp]

There is magnesium and iiodine and I test for both

[yardboy]

I thought PurpleUp (which I've never used) was made using calcium gluconate? After reading several articles about gluconate's ability to promote calcareous algae growth I bought some at the health food store (actually cheaper source than PU) and have good results with it, if I'm trying to get corraline on base rock or the glass of my tank. (which also works with calcium chloride) But according to Calfo, it is not in a form available to corals, and so will not promote growth of them, even though it causes an apparent increase in calcium concentrations according to tests. And because it's carbone base (gluconate - oxidation product of glucose, so lots of carbon for food) it will (from reading and my observation) promote algae growth, especially if you have any issues with organics, it just makes it worse.

Besides, it's got only a third of the calcium as Cacium chloride, and is more expensive, so what's the point?

[Sexy Shrimp]

How do you work out it only has a third of the calcium? The point is that it also adds Mg and Iodine in balance thus cutting back on the big tubs of powders

 

PU contains ionic calcium (which I have always assumed was CaCl (50% Ca) or CaHO2 (25% Ca) as that kinda makes sense) and aragonite at 10 microns.

 

I wouldn't advise using calcium gluconate as a) it only contains 10% calcium and you don't know what it is "bulked out" with to make it palatable to humans (ie the other 90%).

[skimmerdude]

Leann,

Have you checked to see if it has dissolved into a bio AVAILABLE source of calcium for your corals though ?

There are a lot of substances that will dissolve in water but that doesn't mean that whats being dissolved is going through the chemical process needed to convert it into a bio available source for your coral.

Which is the problem with aragonite based products.

I am not and have never said it would harm your aquarium or its inhabitants. I am simply stating it will do exactly jack for your LPS or SPS as far a a calcium additive because its in the wrong chemical composition to begin with for the environment its being introduced into. In order for aragonite based substances to buffer PH or act as a bio available calcium source they have to be introduced to carbonic acids ( a lot of them ) so much so that it would make the acidic environment in your tank such that the ph would be 6 or less. Ergo nothing would survive. What other ingredients are there in PU aside from aragonite ?

 

 

I can't say much about LPS or SPS growth, I have decent growth of both in my tanks but I have never thought their growth was directly due to purple up. I do think that purple up has helped coralline algae grow, it might be more due to the mag and iodine then the calcium, but I am not sure.

 

I have NEVER dosed only purple up, and I have always used Kalkwasser and B-ionic in conjunction, always with careful testing.

 

Your milage may vary, but overall, if you are curious about the product, it is pretty cheap. You could even split a small bottle with someone and compared to most of the things we purchase for our tanks, it is almost free.

[The Propagator]

/\

 

I have. I got good coraline growth but that was about it.

Its the b-ionic and kalkwasser doing it for you though. ( as you already said. )

 

 

Leann,

Come on chicky. You have access to brilliant scientific equipment over there !

Put that shiat on the Bunsen burner and find out whats in it for us already.

All we got out of ya so far is iodine, and magnesium.

[yardboy]

How do you work out it only has a third of the calcium? The point is that it also adds Mg and Iodine in balance thus cutting back on the big tubs of powders

 

PU contains ionic calcium (which I have always assumed was CaCl (50% Ca) or CaHO2 (25% Ca) as that kinda makes sense) and aragonite at 10 microns.

 

I wouldn't advise using calcium gluconate as a) it only contains 10% calcium and you don't know what it is "bulked out" with to make it palatable to humans (ie the other 90%).

 

Calcium gluconate - [CH2OH(CHOH)4COO]2Ca = 9.3% calcium

calcium chloride - CaCl2 - 37% calcium

Maybe a bit simplistic, but that's what I was basing my statement on. It's really less than that, as gluconate is quite a bit less soluble than chloride.

I was under the impression that Purple Up was primarily calcium gluconate, which has been shown to encourage corraline growth, but with concurrent nutrient enrichment, which can cause problems (but not necessarily). I also assume that it's real formula is proprietary so no real idea what is in it.

Recall also that I stated that I've never bought or used any. I've looked at a bottle in the store and read the label, but don't recall exactly what it said.

I'm also aware of fillers but have only purchased what was labelled as 95-100%, which is what ASP reagent grade is labelled out of Fisher Scientific, but costs lots more.

[The Propagator]

 

[bdare]

 

 

Dam Prop. How'd you get your picture on there?

[The Propagator]

I'm good like that !

 

( don't tell any one I'm a rap star ok... I don't want mobbed deep n-stuff... )