Dinos, Diatoms, Cyano, or Coralline?

[MattR]

Hi everyone, I started seeing this grow on my rocks about 4 days ago. Nothing else has been changed in my tank beside a new ai prime. I took a turkey baster to it and blew it off byt none if it really came off (besides some normal detritus, The tank is fairly young (about 6 months old). Any opinions would help

 

[ndrwater]

Going to need better pic unfortunately, the multicolored sand makes it hard to determine what is going on

 

[MattR]

@ndrwater Here are better ones. Its mostly green with some maroon splotches

 

[Phillthy]

Every tank will develop some sort of algae at one point or another. Its your job to keep up on the maintenance. Cleaning the glass. Dont use a magnet cleaner. Need a cloth or something to hold the algae or else it will just spread again once it settles. Uv light will kill suspended algae bacteria. Get a cleanup crew and dont overfeed. These small steps will prevent algae growth and keep your tank pristine. Also. That just looks like the start of coraline to me

 

[ndrwater]

@ndrwaterIts mostly green with some maroon splotches

Diatoms. Very typical. Diatoms are the thing we clean off our glass as the tank matures. It's on the rocks now, and will continue to do so. As the tank matures more, Coraline will grow and make the green less obvious. You have started your journey.. stuff is growing in your tank!!
Keep the questions coming!!

 

[MattR]

@ndrwater thank you! I normally jumped right from the brown ugly stages not this kinda pleasant green color. I would assume this is the early stages of coralline then. I usually do about a 25% weekly water change (its a nuvo 10). Should I do biweekly for a month or so? Also would you recommend me lowering my light duration? Its from on 1-930 then moonlight from 10-2am.

 

[ndrwater]

I wouldn't change a thing.. getting to aggressive with water changes to soon in a smaller tank can lead to bad things.
Let it ride, and enjoy the trip!!
Like I have said many many times before, slow and steady wins the race!!
Trust me, you'll get there soon enough!!