Grass on rock =(

[fugz]

Tanks been going at it almost 4 weeks now and im curious what would cause pretty much grass to grow on my rock Would/ what type of hermits eat that kinda of stuff , or certain kind of snails? I have no clean up crew going on in there as of now as i am adding 50 more pounds for LR and 100lbs LS, so gonna add one after that. please help me i dont like this grass stuff growing on my rocks

 

[elcid]

Is the grass green or brown?

 

[ntvflgirl]

Sounds like hair algae. IMO, I wouldn't put any invertabrates in there until your tank until it is finished cycling. I'm assuming you are still cycling. And if not, by the time you add 50 pounds of lr, and 100 lbs of ls, you definately will be. It's usually caused from phosphates, and too much of the wrong spectrum light. Did you set up your tank with tap water? Are you topping off and doing water changes with reverse osmosis water?
After you finish cycling, there are several things you can do. Scrub it off with a toothbrush, pick it out of the sand with tweezers, get a lawnmower blenny. Actually, 2 out of 3 of these you can do now if you don't like the look of it.
HTH

 

[fugz]

The grass is green in color. No brown at all. Yah im sure its still cycling. I did fill it with tap water, but going to start using RO water for water changes and top offs. Would it be okay for me to top it off with RO water now? The water level has dropped and it sounds like a river running through my room!and do i need to add that Amquel stuff to the ro water? I have not done any water changes yet i was curious when i would know the right time to set up a water change =/ And i do not like the look of the grass at all hehe. I was thinking so hermits would eat the grass from what ive been rading online.

 

[ncjetskier]

Sounds like hair algae to me (I hate the stuff). You may want to test your water to know exactly where you stand as far as water quality. YES I would start using RO/DI water immediately since different water sources are different water qualities and RO will help increase the quality of your water. You are going to need to test your phosphate including the phosphate content of where you are getting your water from (my Kent RO/DI DOES NOT get rid of phosphates and barely makes a difference (.2PPM before and .15PPM after (by the way it is the DI that makes the slight drop not in phophates). There is a huge difference in a phosphate tank (never really have to clean algae off the glass, no hairy algae etc). Remember algae is a plant that needs water (saltwater), light and food-phosphate and nitrates/nitrites. I would get some culpera plants to help stabilize the tank and reduce the food source of your algae. I am extremely anit hairy algae (like dating a girl with a mustach) as it over grew all my coral and killed it. Had to do countless water changes that actually probably help feed it (new phosphate). Broke down my tank twice, scrub more hair algae than family dishes. IMO you need to get rid of it-get some culpera!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[fugz]

OKay , just tested my water with whats i got and here are my readings~
Nitrates - 0ppm
Nitrates - 20ppm
PH - looks about 8.6
Amonia - .25ppm
Oh, as for my Lighting i have a 30watt 50/50 coral life solid flouresent tube~ 2 55watt PC lights, one 10,000k and the other actinic. I plan on adding in a better lighting system within 2 weeks~
Would adding the other 50lbs of LR ( totaling about 100pounds of LR ) and the 100lbs of LS help this any better?
The more i looking into my tank and see that grass algae i just want it to go away, ugh

Would it be okay to top off my water right now with RO water while its still cycling? Would that help the problem a bit, im just getting all upset now seeing all this grass on my rocks, looks so awful!
Purple on my live rock seems to be fading a bit too jeesh what should i do to help stop all this ? i am hopinh the new rock and sand wil help

 

[ntvflgirl]

Yes, start using the ro water right away. Personally, I didn't do a water change in my tank until it was finished cycling. If there is any way to get that sand and lr in the tank now, I would go ahead and do it. It will more than likely cause another cycle in your tank if you wait, therefore making it so much longer until you can start adding the "goodies". It will at least be a mini-cycle, unless you are absolutely positive that both the lr and ls are cured, which is almost impossible to determine, especially with the amount you plan to add. As for the coralline, it will take about 4 to 6 months before you start to see that take off. Your ph looks a tad high, also. But that is a whole other can of worms!!!! Let me know if you want the 411 on that, and I'll see if I can't find Broomer's (my hero) thread on the relationship between alk, ca, and "stuff".
And about the hair algae...just start picking it out if it bothers you.
HTH

 

[fugz]

Okay, ill top it off tomorrow with some RO water, and looks like i will have alot of grass picking time on my hands tomorrow heh~ Do i need to add that Amquel detoxifier to the RO water? Also how will i be able to tell when the cycle is finished heh?

 

[ntvflgirl]

AAHHHHHH!!! The joys of reefkeeping...lol.

 

[fugz]

Ohh and one more question from to the other from my other post, should i wait till the cycle is complete before adding a clean up crew? id like to get em in soon to help control the hair algae and other things

 

[ntvflgirl]

I would wait on those. They most likely will not live through the cycle. Patience is one thing you WILL develop with this hobby.
And one other thing I forgot to answer, I don't know what Amquel is, but I would NOT add it to the water.

 

[ncjetskier]

A cleaning crew will HELP clean but if you are having it grow all over, a large cleaning crew won't be able to keep up (at least in my tank they couldn't). Get some live plant life, CULPERA and it will help with the Nitrates and Amonia and I would get a Phophate test kit (get a good one). Hopefully your algae is JUST due to high nitrates and not Phosphate. Either way plant life will help a HUGE amount-wish I knew before I spent an additional $1,000 for something I got for free. (by the way the plants will do good under your lighting system).

 

[fugz]

how can you tell when the cycle is complete? =/

 

[fshhub]

is it hair algae(almost like pond algae)?
If not, there are other grassy type algaes, like angel hair, which can be a nuance, but not as unsigtly as hair, IMO
As for the cycle, after your nitrite and ammonia spike adn fall to 0 and your nitrate spikes and peaks and falls, then stabilizes. YOu are then finished, the nitrate may not go back to 0 though.

 

[arkman]

Originally posted by Fugz
Nitrates - 0ppm
Nitrates - 20ppm
PH - looks about 8.6
Amonia - .25ppm

Noobie question: why would nitrates be up at 20 AND ammonia at .25?
Shouldn't it be Ammonia - Nitrite - Nitrate in a sequence during the cycle?

 

[fshhub]

nitrates can be present,
the cycle does go as you mentioned, but nitrates can be in simple tap water, so wthey would be there too(if the water started out that way)

 

[dzhuo]

Hi Fugz,
I am also new so I don't know if I can provide much help...
Do you have anything (other than the LR an LS) else in your tank? how many hours do you light your tank? if you don't have anything other than LR or LS in your tank, you may consider leave your light off while you cycle. Lighting is one of the most important element for algae growth so if you cut down on the amount of light you have in your tank which it's cycling, this will help control algae a bit i think... I heard that some people even leave their lights completely off which cycling...
david