Am I seeing green?

[spencka]

Morning!
My LR seems to be taking on a greeen tint. Not sure if it's normal, good algae, bad algae or Coraline growing?
I only use RO/DI water for the water changes. To date, I've only done one - my tank has only been up & running about two months now.
I did water tests yesterday and the results are below:
Ammonia = 0
Nitrites = 0
Nitrates = 25
PH = 8.2
ALK = 3.54 / dKH = 9.9
Cal = 340
S.G. = 1.025
Sal. = 32%
Temp. steady at 79.8
I have a lot of snails, crabs, a star fish that pretty much stays buried in the sand, a coral banded & cleaner shrimp - along with a Coral beauty & Tomato Clown. I have about 65 - 70 lbs. of LR & 60 lbs. of LS in a 55 Gal. tank.
My lights are on about 6 - 8 hours/night and they're 260w (total) PC's.
Can anyone offer advice on the green tint my tank is taking on?
Thanks in advance!
Steve

 

[carshark]

hey steve is it the water itself? or is it the glass.. I know it sounds silly but sometimes a magfloat scrubbing is all you need. besides the fact that you have added way too many fish in a short period of time, thats the only thing I can think of.....

 

[lion_crazz]

I would say that it was the nitrates that were contributing to the growing algae growth on the live rock. If you can cut the nitrates down to where they should be (10-15 ppm), you will start to see some of that die off. Also, once coralline starts to grow (you must have good calcium, magnesium, and alk levels), the green will also begin to go away. I would just keep an eye on those nitrates. With an angel in the tank, you do not want them rising any further.
How often do you feed your fish? If you are feeding more than once per day, you will want to cut this down for sure. Also, you might want to look into getting a mini-fuge set-up in your sump to cut down on this nitrate problem as well. If you have that high of a nitrate with only 2 fish in the tank, there is an issue somewhere that is going to cause further problems if left unfixed.

 

[spencka]

Thanks folks! Regarding question about glass cleaning - I did that last night before I took the water tests. First I used the mag cleaner, then I also used a white scrubber pad on a plastic handle, then cleaned outside glass with white vinegar on paper towel.
I also cleaned the top "trap" container on my skimmer, which in my under cabinet wet/dry sump. All just part of my normal weekly cleaning duties.
What other otions do I have besides a fuge to get the Nitrates down? Water change?
Thanks again!
Steve

 

[lion_crazz]

Water changes and a larger clean-up crew will help.

 

[spencka]

Just a note to add to the story, about 10 days ago, I was overdue for my first water change and my tank was not level (I know, lesson learned). Anyway, I removed nearly 75% of the water so I could shim the cabinet/tank. Might this have caused the algae (knowing my current water parameters)?

 

[lion_crazz]

It's very possible. For future reference, you want to try and avoud doing anything more than a 50% water change when there are fish in the tank.