what is goin on with my tank

[rx7racer210]

my tank lvls are great and i just started agian putting purple up and essential elements in it can anyone tell me if the green on my rocks is coraline or algae ive never had this prob b4

[BIGBIRD123]

Welcome to MAAST...first...Purple-up is worthless and this something we have all gone thru in the beginning stages of a tank. It will go away. What livestock do you have in the tank and what are you tank levels? No offense intended but just saying they are great does not help us help you.

[txav8r]

The arches are cool!

Did you test for anything before you added chemicals to your tank?

Never dose anything that you don't test for.

I'm pretty sure that ain't coraline.

[dclegern]

is it a brownish glaze on the glass and sand, then slightly green on the rocks?

[txav8r]

Oh, and welcome to MAAST! Umm... 3 years ago. LOL

Looks like he's been around a while, Steve.

[rx7racer210]

my ph is 8.2-8.4 my nitrite is 0 nitrate is 0 salinity is perfect and amonia is almost 0 yea i tested i have 2 damsels and 2 turbo snails and 5 hermit crabs rite now so if purple up is worthless wut should i use and actually i need to clean my sand its not brown algae i already went threw that the green is almost a neon green

[cowboy572]

To me it looks like the beginning stages of some type of algae from using tap water or water that wasn't properly filtered.

[rx7racer210]

could be i top off wih ro but can always do all my water changes with ro water cause i dont have rodi filter yet an lfs is a good drive away

[Kenya]

if you are this concerned about the algae, why dont you turn down your lighting to like 4-6 hours instead of average 8-12 hours. Algae needs light to flourish

[jroescher]

Flow and Circulation???

More clean-up crew???

Any change in lighting??? Maybe need a change in lighting???

If there's already any coralline anywhere in your tank, it will spread on it's own. It really only needs light. Maybe brush it occasionally to release particles into the water. If you don't have any, borrow a rock or pump from someone for awhile to get it established.

From the pictures the tank looks like a new setup. How long has it been running now?

[rx7racer210]

3 months on this tank i need to get better flow i need a new powerhead i need a skimmer and im guna l;imit light on well my cleaning crew got rid of my brown algae thats wen it started to get the green

[ErikH]

Brown diatomatic algae? The pics are to small for me to see on my iPod. You definitely should invest in blue leg hermits and nassarius snails.

[jroescher]

3 months old and brown algea changing now to green algae all sounds like the typical cycle of a newer tank.

[ErikH]

Yep

[dclegern]

that was my issue brotha........I didn't really believe in RO.
did a little test.
wet down half the front glass w/ RO, and half with austin tap...
20 min later the RO side was clear, and the tap side had to be scraped off.....thus causing a huge diatom bloom in my tank of various color.
RO.... a better clean up crew......decent flow.......then wait a day or so!!

[rx7racer210]

sweet just was worried my other tank had neither and is still running great so does any one have any suggestions for my tank also is anyone selling a skimmer i need one i also wana start a refugium any help would be greatly appreciated

[rx7racer210]

also sorry got caught up in superbowl but wut should i do about the algae any fish i should get for the green algae

[ErikH]

You need a larger cuc. Also what are your phosphates?

[Europhyllia]

honestly if it was me and I still had detectable ammonia levels I'd focus on getting the equipment part under control before adding more critters:
RODI water, skimmer, etc.
Chances are that once your nutrient levels normalize and your tank matures the algae problem will go away too.

[rx7racer210]

rite now i dont have a way to test my phosphates i need a skimmer my filters and stuff are great i added other filter material to neutralize all the usuals i need to switch my bioballs to live rock but yea

[FireWater]

Need to check the phosphates - it could be introduced through bad water (tap or unchecked ro). What kind of maintenance schedule do you keep. Even with a small bioload you can be building up excess nutrients that are not being exported out of the system. Keys to concentrate on - frequent water changes, stable nutrient levels, good working skimmer, and I believe in fuges. Please tell us more about the set up, in particular filtration and maintenance.

[rx7racer210]

i have a 65g wet dry want a fuge i dont have a skimmer cant affor to spend 180 to get one i do water changes every week and i do use tlc once a week and purple up every other day with essential elemants. i have bioballs in the sump want to change to live rock, i have 2 diff filtration pads one for regular filter the other for phosphates nitrates ect... i change reg pad once a week the other once a month (its 15 a pad) Again i have a few turbo and nassarius snails and about 5 hermit crabs and rite now two damsels

[ErikH]

Use bionic 2 part for your alk and ca.
A larger cuc and rinsed foods help alot. Foods come in a gelatinous paste that feels like grease, it's nasty and full of phosphates.

[kkiel02]

Sounds like you are on the right track with what people have suggested. A skimmer will help to pull out alot of the nutrients the algae is using to grow. A fuge can also do that. I would build a fuge and try and track down a used skimmer for now. Also reefcleaners is running a real good special right now for 25% off their stuff you might want to check out. I would suggest more frequent water changes if you cant get a fuge and skimmer soon, this will help to export some of those nutrients.

[jroescher]

First thing is to stop adding Purple Up and Essential Elements. Your just adding nutrients to your tank that you don't need. They're already in your water changes. Something (algae?) is using those extra nutrients.

[Bill S]

honestly if it was me and I still had detectable ammonia levels I'd focus on getting the equipment part under control before adding more critters:

With the age of the tank, I'd guess his Ammonia is zero, and the test kit is at fault. Some of the cheapo kits often have small false positives for Ammonia.

[FireWater]

Yes to all the above. You should stop dosing all the extra stuff, especially if you don't have a full and quality test kit. Foods and supplements bring in all kinds of stuff with them. I followed the recomendation of another member to do 2 small water changes a week - I am noticing a huge difference in my water quality since starting that regimen. It should help you a bunch since you are currently unable to run a skimmer, plus it should take the place of the need to dose all kinds of stuff since it will be brought in by the salt(good quality salt).

[Big_Pun]

stop dosing what do you have for flow, from the pic it looks like one maxijet, need alot more than that

[rx7racer210]

well i finally got a skimmer and i am guna do the water changes also i no way off topic but i need a new light timer for my lights any suggestions b4 i go buy the basic one

[rabadanmarco]

personaly i like the basic timers that look like this that you can buy at target for $5

http://www.amazon.com/Indoor-Mechanical-Plug-Timer-Wattage/dp/B001D9XEY6

but there was one i had a while back that i sold and i regret wich is this one.

http://www.aquacave.com/digital-power-centertimerbr-by-coralife-2018.html

$5 Vs. $40

[rabadanmarco]

and what color teprature lights are you using.

[rx7racer210]

i have a satelite dual with the standard bulbs except i need moon lighting

[ErikH]

use the cheapy timers for now, later on, if you save up some cash, look for a used controller. You are doing the right thing, build up slowly, but always buy right the first time. :)

[rx7racer210]

i did have a coralife controller and it stopped working

[ErikH]

those things are god awful

[FireWater]

On the Corallife timers I have found through trial and error that if you keep them under the tank and they are subjected to the wet atmosphere under there they go bad. All of mine have stopped working, but a good friend has four of them on 2 different tanks and they still work fine after 2 yrs. Only difference is that his are outside the stand in the open.