Live rock changing colors?

[lorenz0]

Taken from a member off nano-reef

"Coraline algae can also be green! It probably started to die off when you first brought it home and now is coming back! The back tank of my tank has as much green coraline as pink! The key is to feel it if its hard not soft and doesnt come off easily its probably coraline!"

So i guess it was coraline algae

and for search referance for other begginners

http://www.algone.com/coralline_algae.php

[Myka]

I doubt it's green coralline algae for many reasons, but mostly because your tank is new. My guess is exactly what Marie said...but got a pic??

You've already jumped the gun by adding a cleanup crew too early. SLOW DOWN! You're going to get yourself into costly trouble. Remember, nothing good ever happens fast in a reef aquarium.

You have no need for a calcium test kit until you start adding corals or if your pH drops. As suggested, spend the money and buy quality calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium test kits when the time comes. Cheap ones are inaccurate, and aren't worth the cardboard they're packaged in. Try Elos or Salifert.

[lorenz0]

umm well here is a picture from saturday



and from just now with the flash on and off

[Myka]

That's just film algaes starting to show up, not coralline. What kind of lighting is that? How many snails/hermits do you have in there? There is hardly anything for them to eat yet, they may starve to death.

[lorenz0]

I went overboard on the snails so i am getting rid of them right away (tomorrow actually)

I was running a old aqua-glo that i used to use for a baby discus tank i am just in the process of switching everything up. Since its a bit of a buget tank I am going with 1 marine-glo, power-glo set for 8 hours (adding timers tomorrow as well) and in the next few weeks a lunar led

honestly i thought i was going at a reasonable pace but it is my first tank and most of what i know is from reading articals. Is there any supplimental food i can add to the tank to help these guys out if there isn't enough food?

[marie]

Once you get better lighting your algae is going to bloom so you might want to hold off on getting rid of the snails or else you might be out buying more again .
The ammonia cycle appears to be nearly over so it should be alright to leave them in there. I am assuming of course that the .25 ammonia is test kit error seeing as how there are no nitrites or nitrates.

As far as feeding the snails that you have, I have noticed my snails appreciate a bit of Nori now and then so you could try supplementing their diet with that until the algae starts to take over

[chevyjaxon]

IMO get rid of the hang on filter you have on the back for starters they are nitrate factories and will lead to alot of algea in the future the next money you will want to be spending is on a good quality protein skimmer they are worth their weight in gold for removing dissolved organic waste, as the rock cycles you will have more waste being introduced to the tank, the white stuff you are seeing is the die off of micro organisms sponges and other things that used to live on the rock sad but true your ammonia will go through the roof as your rock cycles please for the sake of anything else you are going to put in there, wait until your tank has fully cycled and you have a good quality protein skimmer also make sure during this period you have your power head facing your rock to blow off any waste that it is producing. the biggest thing here is take your time, a stable marine tank relies on bacteria to break down ammonia and nitrites, let your tank stabilize and populate its bacterial filter then and only then you can start to add fish nitrates are okay but nitrites and ammonia will kill your fish and corals next is lighting you should read up on zooxenthele and the way corals produce it through photosynthesis. enjoy your new found hobby and remember nothing good happen right away in marine

[Myka]

Originally Posted by lorenz0

I went overboard on the snails so i am getting rid of them right away (tomorrow actually)

I was running a old aqua-glo that i used to use for a baby discus tank i am just in the process of switching everything up. Since its a bit of a buget tank I am going with 1 marine-glo, power-glo set for 8 hours (adding timers tomorrow as well) and in the next few weeks a lunar led

honestly i thought i was going at a reasonable pace but it is my first tank and most of what i know is from reading articals. Is there any supplimental food i can add to the tank to help these guys out if there isn't enough food?

So how many snails and hermits do you actually have? I ask because I only saw one snail in your pictures. Maybe you don't have too many...?

Do you plan to get any corals at all, or is this a fish only setup? If you plan to get corals, you will need better lighting than that, so save up until you can get a Tek T5 strip. I would save my money on the LED too if I were you, and add that later since it is not required.

You've gone ahead and added a clean up crew before your cycle is over, so that is ahead of schedule. I was trying to scare you a bit so you'll learn now instead of later when you have a lot more money in your tank.

I notice that your rocks are placed on top of the sand. You should dig your sand out where the rocks are so you can place the rocks directly onto the glass bottom of the tank. This way, when you get some fish or other critters that may dig they won't be able to dig under the rocks and get squashed and/or cause a rock slide.

I was skeptical when you posted your readings too...odd that you have ammonia, but no nitrite or nitrate. Can you take your water to an LFS and get them to test it for you to double check your readings?

[lorenz0]

I used to scare the dart frog beginners all the time, I guess karma caught up lol. Just thought i would take up the challenge of a salt water this time around.

Right now I have 10 snails, which will be down to 3 or 4 tomorrow. There was a deal on 10 and I am a sucker for deals. Than I have 10 left handed hermit crabs, which I think are the coolest little guys so far. My plans for the tank is a mushroom tank. I was talking to a fellow at elite aquatic's in calgary and he told me that just the marine-glo and power-glo will be enough. The rock is actually close to he glass but i for sure will take your advice and put it all the way down.

As for test kits, the ones I have been using are Aquarium Pharmaceuticals nitrate, nitrite, and ph. Than for ammonia I am using the nutrafin hagen one. I do want to pick up the Elos master kit.

Thanks for all the help btw, it means alot

[naesco]

Add a few spirulina discs to the tank and the snails will eat them.
They stay hard for a long time giving the snails an opportunity to eat them.
Also it your lighting on