Update:
For all those folks setting up their tanks for the first time and are anxious to have everything covered in coraline algae, here is the bottom of my tank after just over a month of being set up. I did not add any Purple Up or baking soda or ice melting compounds. Notice there is very little unwanted algae growing even though I feed pretty heavy and haven't made a water change in over a month. RO/DI water and a high quality salt makes all the difference in the world. My clean up crew is pretty much a skeleton crew. 4 or 5 turbo snails, 6 astreas, and a few trocus snails. In two weeks, I will begin a water change schedule. I will start with 15 gallons per week and see where that leads me. Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels are undetectable.
