Newby looking for input/feedback

[Trigger Man]

Yes the purple stuff growing on your rock is Coraline Algae.
As for your increase in salintiy it is due to the evaporation occuring in your tank. The less open spots in the tank top the less you should see in evaporation. Ideally you want to keep you salinity level as constant as possible, with many reefers on here keeping their tanks at 1.023 to 1.026. I keep mine at 1.025.
You can look at a auto top off unit if you find that the salinity level is fluctuating to much, or add some water in the morning and then in the night as needed (remember top off water is water that has no salt in it).

[Koresample]

thanks for the info, I topped off with de-chlorinated water (1 litre) and will check it again today.

[tang daddy]

alternatively if you don't want to chuck a piece of cocktail shrimp you could put some frozen mysis or brine and that way atleast the hermits will get a meal!

you can make an auto top off fairly easy aswell so it adds the water in slowly all you need is a plastic waste basket and a couple fittings from home depot, an airline hose and a nozzel from the sprinkler from the plumbing dept. I made one for under $20 and put 1g of water into it everyday then set the nozzel to drip 2 drops per second it usually takes a couple hrs to empty. Ofcourse this top off system is gravity fed meaning it has to be above you tank or sump.

[Koresample]

thanks for the tips, I don't have the room to put one of those drip feeds in though, so i"ll have to do it manually. I'll pick up some shrimp like you suggest and feed my crabs. The 1 ltr brought the HG down to 1022 again, so i'll just have to make that part of my daily routine now

I bought the Sea Clone Skimmer not knowing jack about skimmers (obviously) and i've been reading up on them that they are not too good, but can me modded to make them better. Mine has a nice cyclone vortex but i am not collecting any stuff in the cup or getting enough foam to spill over in to the collector cup. Any tips other than scrapping it already?

I also noticed i have what looks like a bright green coral algae forming on some of the established rock (not fuzzy and it looks like the same density/texture as the existing purple stuff), is this like the purple stuff and just leave it alone?

[fishytime]

Coraline algae can be many colors. Pink, purple, orange and green.

[Koresample]

Can it change from purple to green? What causes the color changes?

[Trigger Man]

with your salinity you don't want it to change so much so rapidly. You mentioned that it was at 1.024 when you checked the water parmeters, then went up to 1.027 that night, and is now down to 1.022 after topoff. These swings will cause alot undue stress on your tank inhabitants.

[Sparkfarmer]

I used a funnel fron Canadian tire and a unused valve from a circ pump for a dripper. I hang it in the back of my biocube and drip in my chemicals/water top-ups. Works great for under $10. Also use it for aclimatizing new stock.

As far as the cycling is concerned. I had a similar situation with transfered live rock, and I didn't get a detectable cycle. You still need to wait a while before adding fish to be safe though....