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3 month old tank - several questions


PDR

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After almost 3 months my 10 gallon is doing well, but I have a few questions.

 

 

Green algae:

 

Over the last 2 weeks some green algae has started to show up on the live rock in small spots and I really want to get it under control before it takes off. From what Ive read it is caused by excess phosphate. I currently run Seachem seagel and purigen in a AC50 for my chemical filtration. My seagel is approximately 2 months old. How often should I be changing it? Also what are the main culprits for phosphate getting into the tank? I currently do not have a phosphate test but have a hanna checker in the mail, and I make my own rodi water from a brs unit. I used 10 lbs of aquamaxx dry rock when starting the tank.

 

 

Corals:

 

I currently only have 3 small corals: Pulsing xenia, gsp and what I believe are button polyps.

 

The gsp are growing great, they have almost doubled in size in under 2 months. How quickly does gsp typically grow?

 

The xenia seems healthy, and compared to pictures when it was first added, has grown taller, but has not grown from its plug onto the rock. Should it be growing any more?

 

The polyps are my biggest concern. They were originally brown from my LFS, but after about a week started to turn a light green. I thought that maybe they were getting too much light so I moved them back to the bottom in some shade for more than a week with no change. I have since moved them back, and they are a still a light green. They open and close like normal, but have not grown at all that I can tell. Any advise on what to do? Also how quickly do healthy polyps typically grow?

 

 

Snails:

 

All of the sudden a lot of my dwarf ceriths stopped going into the sand bed at night and instead are gathering in the top corner. It seems that they started this after I changed my temp from 78-80. Any reason the temp would cause their behavior to changed? Should I be concerned about it?

 

 

 

I change between 2-3 gallons every 7-10 days. I use IO, but have red sea coral pro on order.

Temp at 80, salinity at 1.025, 0 nitrate.

 

 

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NorthGaHillbilly

Sounds like things are going well

 

Consider yourself lucky the button polyps are NOT growing, they are like herpes, very invasive. I would isolate them, or get rid of them all together.

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Sounds like things are going well

 

Consider yourself lucky the button polyps are NOT growing, they are like herpes, very invasive. I would isolate them, or get rid of them all together.

 

They are kind of isolated. My main concern is I will be adding about $300 in coral frags in about a month or 2 and I want to make sure my new corals grow properly.

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NorthGaHillbilly

 

They are kind of isolated. My main concern is I will be adding about $300 in coral frags in about a month or 2 and I want to make sure my new corals grow properly.

It sounds to me like things are going as they should. Be careful with the red sea pro, as it has different levels than your current salt.

 

What types of new coral are you planning?

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It sounds to me like things are going as they should. Be careful with the red sea pro, as it has different levels than your current salt.

 

What types of new coral are you planning?

 

I am planning on mainly lps with some zoas and possibly some sps. I'm not sure exactly what I want yet.

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NorthGaHillbilly

 

I am planning on mainly lps with some zoas and possibly some sps. I'm not sure exactly what I want yet.

I would start monitoring your alk now in that case, and dont spend any money on coral till you can keep it stable. Ca is only a problem if it drops way low, but alk swings, even between two "good" numbers, can wreak havoc. I wish I could say Ive only lost $300 in coral to alk swings.

 

Choose a salt, get in your WC regimen and then monitor your Alk.

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I would start monitoring your alk now in that case, and dont spend any money on coral till you can keep it stable. Ca is only a problem if it drops way low, but alk swings, even between two "good" numbers, can wreak havoc. I wish I could say Ive only lost $300 in coral to alk swings.

 

Choose a salt, get in your WC regimen and then monitor your Alk.

 

That's my plan, in my previous post I should have said I will be adding more coral IF I am able to keep my levels stable over the next 2 months. What causes Alk swings?

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NorthGaHillbilly

 

That's my plan, in my previous post I should have said I will be adding more coral IF I am able to keep my levels stable over the next 2 months. What causes Alk swings?

Coral and algae growth are the main culprits, but witchcraft has some effect Im sure

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I would slow down a bit. You have not provided a lot of information that would allow us to better help you. Do you have live rock, and substrate (sand)? Currunet chemistry, pH, Alk, Mg, Ca, Specific Gravity, to start with. If you are changing 2 to 3 gal per week that is very good as it translate to at least a 20% water change per week. I would keep that up even with a new salt mix. I use Red Sea COral Pro, the one you are moving to and it works very well. As already suggested you will need to watch changes in Alk over time. Tanks with lots of coraline algae and corals will consume Alk over time as part of calcium carbonate formation, their skeletons. Your current population of critters should not be giving you issues but again more information would help.

 

Good Reefing!

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I would slow down a bit. You have not provided a lot of information that would allow us to better help you. Do you have live rock, and substrate (sand)? Currunet chemistry, pH, Alk, Mg, Ca, Specific Gravity, to start with. If you are changing 2 to 3 gal per week that is very good as it translate to at least a 20% water change per week. I would keep that up even with a new salt mix. I use Red Sea COral Pro, the one you are moving to and it works very well. As already suggested you will need to watch changes in Alk over time. Tanks with lots of coraline algae and corals will consume Alk over time as part of calcium carbonate formation, their skeletons. Your current population of critters should not be giving you issues but again more information would help.

 

Good Reefing!

 

Thanks for the reply. I just got my red sea test kit in today. This was my first try so the tests may not be perfect.

Ph 8.0, Salinity 1.025, Alk 8-9, Ca 400, Mg 1300-1350ish (mg was the first one I did so I was still getting used to it)

I have 10lbs of LR and about a 2" sand bed.

 

All other info can be found in the first post on my build thread.

Also I was looking at my rocks closer today and I noticed some red as well as green on the rocks. It looks more like the rock is "stained" the color, not like an algae.

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Might just be coraline algae? That is a good thing as it suggests that all is well with your chemistry. Your test results also suggest that things are normal. Can you post a picture of what you see. It will also help us identify what you are concerned with.

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Might just be coraline algae? That is a good thing as it suggests that all is well with your chemistry. Your test results also suggest that things are normal. Can you post a picture of what you see. It will also help us identify what you are concerned with.

I have tried taking pictures but I only have an iPhone and the colors get washed out too much to see color on the rock. My phosphate test comes in tomorrow so hopefully that will help determine whats going on.

 

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I noticed that green showed up a lot more with the light off and with the flash on my phone. It looks way worse in the pictures, you can barely notice it with the tank light on.

 

 

IMG_0168.jpg

 

 

IMG_0169.jpg

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If it is hard to bruch off it is coraline algae. It oftem starts out green and over time turns pink, red and purple. Be patient, 3 months in you seem to be in good shape.

Good Reefing!

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If it is hard to bruch off it is coraline algae. It oftem starts out green and over time turns pink, red and purple. Be patient, 3 months in you seem to be in good shape.

Good Reefing!

 

I tried scraping it off with my nail and an unused toothbrush and I couldn't get any off. Based on other information I have read as well I do think it is coralline.

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Tank looks healthy, green is part of the process of the tank settling in. What you want to control is anything long, like hair, but even then just keep an eye on it and take care of it when needed. Even if you don't take care of it the tank will eventually come back to a balance, as long was weekly water changes are done.

 

Xenia is not very toxic, not sure where that came from, but can be very invasive. I like it, and it's fairly easy to pull when it takes off. It's also a good indicator of water quality. If Xenia starts to melt you've stripped the water too clean.

 

I would stop testing PH, it just leads to wanting to correct it which causes all kinds of issues. Most tests are inaccurate, you really need a calibrated meter, so just put the PH test kit away and be happy. :D

 

Your GSP looks happy, Xenia looks happy, the zoas or pallys that are open look happy. Things look good and normal for a newer tank.

 

Switching from IO to RSCP is going to spike your Alk way up, so do it slowly. The nice thing about RSCP is the high alk, which will slowly fall between water changes but most easier corals don't have a problem with it.

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The tank looks great, my understanding was the greens was the start of corralline, which will turn pink, red and purple. No need to scrape it off or clean, it will look great once the tank starts settling in and it changes colours.

 

If the Xenia is still on a frag plug you may want to consider isolating it so it doesn't spread over onto the rocks, have seen heaps of people complain about it turning more into a weed that you can't get rid of. As for toxic, not heard of that before, but they can unload a nasty amount of nutrients if you trim it in the tank, I usually just get an algae outbreak. It is usually the first to respond to heat stress as well so it's a good way of monitoring things like temp and water quality.

 

Nutrient levels should remain stable with weekly water changes until you decide to add more LPS or SPS, you shouldn't need to test too much until that happens.

 

Personally I'm not a fan of RSCP, I keep my Alk fairly low (7-8), corals seem to grow really well if it's kept stable but RSCP (Alk mixes up at around 14) causes too much of an Alk swing with water changes and really pisses off my corals, SPS especially won't open for at least a day.

 

All in all things are looking good so far.

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Thanks for the information. I researched salt mixes for several weeks before deciding on rscp. It seemed to have the fewest issues/people who had bad experiences with it. When switching from IO to rscp should I dilute it with IO? Or do a series of 1 gallon water changes?

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I just did a 1 gallon change with rscp and my corals are doing great, but my fish seemed really stressed for the first 5-10 min. Salinity and temp were the same, but ph went up from 7.8-8.0. Any reason it would have bothered them so much? Also I was able to test my phosphates and they are 0.00 according to the Hanna Checker.

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What type of light and schedule are you running?

 

Current Orbit Marine LED. I am using the stock settings on "M1" for now. I believe it is 8 hours full intensity then 4 hours of moon light.

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DefStatic

I am glad I read this thread, because I am in the same boat. About three months going. Some coral. Some fish. Some cuc. And I am experiencing some green algea only on my live rock, in the highest light area.

 

I was going to post in here, but I think I will just keep monitoring things and better my tank husbandry, as I was only doing 5 gallon changes every two weeks. Now I am every week.

 

Also I learned, and I guess I should have known, but to only top off with ro/di water.

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