What is this? Good or bad?

[Reefgirl0412]

So my tank is about 4 months old and before this, all the rocks and sand were dark brown (diatoms), now the sand is almost all cleared up, BUT now I'm getting this greenish stuff on the rocks. What is this? And what should I do? I've also only been running lights for about 6 hours a day since I don't have any coral. Thanks in advance peeps.

 

[Tired]

That would be algae. This is the stage that comes after the brown algae. When you start with completely bare rock, the brown algae surges over it first, then the green algae appears. This is a good time to add the first members of your cleanup crew. The green algae will run everywhere for awhile, then, once coraline spores are introduced and the rock begins to mature a little, the green will gradually fade back. Expect hair algae to pop up sooner or later. Don't do anything about it except maintaining an appropriate cleanup crew, keeping good nitrate and phosphate levels (not super high, but also not zero!), and manually pulling out any long tufts of hair algae. It'll sort itself out of its own accord.

 

[Reefgirl0412]

That would be algae. This is the stage that comes after the brown algae. When you start with completely bare rock, the brown algae surges over it first, then the green algae appears. This is a good time to add the first members of your cleanup crew. The green algae will run everywhere for awhile, then, once coraline spores are introduced and the rock begins to mature a little, the green will gradually fade back. Expect hair algae to pop up sooner or later. Don't do anything about it except maintaining an appropriate cleanup crew, keeping good nitrate and phosphate levels (not super high, but also not zero!), and manually pulling out any long tufts of hair algae. It'll sort itself out of its own accord.

I have 1 astrea snail, 2 Mexican turbos, 2 zebra turbos, 2 cerith, 10 hermits, and an emerald crab

 

[Reefgirl0412]

That would be algae. This is the stage that comes after the brown algae. When you start with completely bare rock, the brown algae surges over it first, then the green algae appears. This is a good time to add the first members of your cleanup crew. The green algae will run everywhere for awhile, then, once coraline spores are introduced and the rock begins to mature a little, the green will gradually fade back. Expect hair algae to pop up sooner or later. Don't do anything about it except maintaining an appropriate cleanup crew, keeping good nitrate and phosphate levels (not super high, but also not zero!), and manually pulling out any long tufts of hair algae. It'll sort itself out of its own accord.

And do 10 percent weekly water changes. NY nitrates were at zero for awhile but I upped my feeding and now they are at 5

 

[Tired]

Whether that's a good number depends on your tank size. You're probably fine. Just let things figure themselves out.

As a general rule, you should have at least 0.03ppm phosphates (very important), and about 5ppm nitrates. Other numbers work for some people, but those are good for beginners. Soft corals may want more nutrients, and many corals will tolerate or quite happily grow in more. You don't want no nutrients, because that'll starve corals and algae, and make way for dinos (arguably the worst reef pest) to take hold.

 

[Reefgirl0412]

Whether that's a good number depends on your tank size. You're probably fine. Just let things figure themselves out.

110 gallons.

 

[Sean Clark]

This looks totally normal. Let it work through its natural course. Don't rush the reef.

 

[Reefgirl0412]

This looks totally normal. Let it work through its natural course. Don't rush the reef.

Thank you. Yes I've been very patient. Lol. Not going to add any corals for awhile. And only have 4 fish. Thank you.

 

[Tired]

You may need to add more snails in future, for a tank that size. For now, don't worry about it- green algae is normal and harmless. Hair algae can annoy corals if/when it pops up, but it can be easily removed by hand, or the coral frag can be scootched away from it.

Green algae on all your rocks means you may be able to keep some hardy soft corals, if you'd like to give that a try.

 

[Reefgirl0412]

Whether that's a good number depends on your tank size. You're probably fine. Just let things figure themselves out.

As a general rule, you should have at least 0.03ppm phosphates (very important), and about 5ppm nitrates. Other numbers work for some people, but those are good for beginners. Soft corals may want more nutrients, and many corals will tolerate or quite happily grow in more. You don't want no nutrients, because that'll starve corals and algae, and make way for dinos (arguably the worst reef pest) to take hold.

Yeah I just got my nitrates to 5. And not adding corals for awhile

 

[Reefgirl0412]

You may need to add more snails in future, for a tank that size. For now, don't worry about it- green algae is normal and harmless. Hair algae can annoy corals if/when it pops up, but it can be easily removed by hand, or the coral frag can be scootched away from it.

Green algae on all your rocks means you may be able to keep some hardy soft corals, if you'd like to give that a try.

I think im going to wait for the corals because my nitrates fluctuate from 0 to 5. I've been trying to keep it in tact lol but yes I have some cyano in spots but not a lot

 

[Tired]

Keep the nitrates up, and the cyano should go away. One thing: stop doing water changes. Water changes shouldn't be done arbitrarily. They're for when nitrates/phosphates are too high, or when calcium and the like are too low. If nothing needs to be removed, and nothing needs to be added, no need to spend time, money, and fish stress on a water change. It'll help your stability, too.

For future reference, you don't need to quote every message you're responding to. Quotes are best used when you need to highlight a small specific bit of a larger post, or when it's unclear what message you're responding to, like maybe if it was said awhile back.

 

[Reefgirl0412]

Oh gotcha. I watched BRS videos and they suggested to do a 10 percent water change each week. How often should I do water changes than?

 

[Tired]

10% a week is a good baseline, but the number and amount of water changes needed varies for every tank. Test your water a couple times a week, see what it does. If nitrates or phosphates are heading towards too high, or calcium or magnesium are headed towards too low, do a water change. If any contaminants get into the tank, do a massive water change. Otherwise, top up (with RODI or distilled water only!) as needed, and leave the water alone.

Best practice is to write down your test results and when you do water changes. You'll figure out what your tank needs that way. Bear in mind that the number and size of water changes needed will change over time, as you add livestock. Particularly as stony corals are added and grow in.

 

[Reefgirl0412]

Yeah I have an ATO so that's all good to go. And I mean with all the water changes my testing is pretty much the same each time. I just got my nitrates up and they've been steady for the oast 3 weeks. I guess I like routines lol

 

[Tired]

If your nitrates have been steady for 3 weeks, that's not really fluctuating. That's being stable. Congrats on the stability- that's the goal.

 

[Reefgirl0412]

Yeah at forst I had zero but I overfed for a little bit lol

 

[Tired]

Ah, that'd do it. The two main ways to increase nutrients are feed more or change less. You'll probably need to reduce the water changes once you add corals that start using up the nutrients. That, or you could always add more fish, if it's been awhile since the last ones. I can't recommend a shrimpgoby/pistol shrimp pair enough; incredibly entertaining.

 

[MichaelReefer]

Just your ugly stage.

 

[Reefgirl0412]

Ah, that'd do it. The two main ways to increase nutrients are feed more or change less. You'll probably need to reduce the water changes once you add corals that start using up the nutrients. That, or you could always add more fish, if it's been awhile since the last ones. I can't recommend a shrimpgoby/pistol shrimp pair enough; incredibly entertaining.

Lol. That's funny that you say that because I'm getting a pistol shrimp tomorrow and the goby on Sunday lol