I had the regular, young tank, tan-colored diatoms start growing on my sandbed a few weeks back. Last week I turned up my whites to check on things and all of my rocks are green.
I've tried googling the various algae types, read through the stickies, and sacrificed a chicken, but I can't seem to find an ID that fits.
The algae is neither slimy, nor stringy, but I did just find a couple of tufts of what I assume is GHA. The algae does not scrub off easily with a toothbrush.
I'm beefing up my CUC, and will be transferring everything to my new tank hopefully by Sunday or Monday. I did read a R2R thread from 2015 that said this type of algae is usually a precursor to coralline (which has been introduced to the tank via snails and frag plugs), but I don't want to get my hopes up, especially with the tank being so young. I would also rather NOT transfer green rocks to the new tank if it can be helped.
I did turn my white and red channels down on my lights when I discovered it.
Parameters
Temp: 78° F
SG: 1.024
pH: 8.0
KH: 9
NH3: 0ppm
NO3: 5ppm
PO4: 0.015ppm
Ca: 460ppm
Mg: 1160ppm (dosed after)
Current CUC
Handful each of...
• Margarita, cerith, nassarius, banded trochus, and astrea turbo snails
• Blue Dwarf and red tip hermit crabs
• An emerald crab
• A sand-sifting sea star
• A serpent sea star
• Scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp
• A red tuxedo urchin
Advise me! Is this all baby GHA? Should I be able to scrub it all off before plopping it in the new tank?
When I first noticed (whites only)
Just now (whites only with orange lens)
A tuft
I've tried googling the various algae types, read through the stickies, and sacrificed a chicken, but I can't seem to find an ID that fits.
The algae is neither slimy, nor stringy, but I did just find a couple of tufts of what I assume is GHA. The algae does not scrub off easily with a toothbrush.
I'm beefing up my CUC, and will be transferring everything to my new tank hopefully by Sunday or Monday. I did read a R2R thread from 2015 that said this type of algae is usually a precursor to coralline (which has been introduced to the tank via snails and frag plugs), but I don't want to get my hopes up, especially with the tank being so young. I would also rather NOT transfer green rocks to the new tank if it can be helped.
I did turn my white and red channels down on my lights when I discovered it.
Parameters
Temp: 78° F
SG: 1.024
pH: 8.0
KH: 9
NH3: 0ppm
NO3: 5ppm
PO4: 0.015ppm
Ca: 460ppm
Mg: 1160ppm (dosed after)
Current CUC
Handful each of...
• Margarita, cerith, nassarius, banded trochus, and astrea turbo snails
• Blue Dwarf and red tip hermit crabs
• An emerald crab
• A sand-sifting sea star
• A serpent sea star
• Scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp
• A red tuxedo urchin
Advise me! Is this all baby GHA? Should I be able to scrub it all off before plopping it in the new tank?
When I first noticed (whites only)
Just now (whites only with orange lens)
A tuft
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