Stupid green uglies

[DmitryB]

I've acclimated myself to 20,000 Kelvin light temp on my Radions and am starting to enjoy the blue light, especially because the corals pop nicely. Since my 40 gallon is only a couple of months old I anticipated some uglies (even though it's all live rock from an LFS, it is leaching phosphates which I am working on lowering.) Under blue light a lot of the rock turned brown. Then I turned on a white light and holy smokes my tank is almost as green as the pool at the National Mall.

I also discovered last night heavy algae growing inside the return chamber. I'm guessing the light is helping contribute to that phenomenon. I should try to make a cover of some sort to block the open overflow chambers.

One thing I am doing is adding phytoplankton every night, as well as MicroBacter 7. Could phytoplankton be contributing to the algae or is that totally unrelated? (Only asking 'cause phyto is green!) Doni need more snails/hernits? What kind of snails are best for this?

Anyway I'm sure this shall pass. The frags I have in the tank don't seem to mind too much. And the baby Coral Beauty Angel (Biota sized) is mostly hiding behind rocks for a couple of weeks since being put in the tank so probably doesn't even know there's all this green stuff to eat.

 

[KrisReef]

Lots of folks suggest bulking up the clean up crew (crabs, snails, and their friends) to help minimize the growth of aquatic algaes and slimes during live rock maturation exercises in a new system.

 

[overhead]

I was stoked when I saw the green algae on my rocks and starting to grow on my glass. That meant the chrysophytes, GHA, cyano and bryopsis had been replaced by something I did not have to actively remove from the rocks.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

IMO it’s just biofilm and micro algae. I would not call this a problem and this doesn’t mean that you will have an algae problem. The green will eventually fade to a brownish grey. To me this is normal and I would do nothing.

 

[DmitryB]

Blue light helps make it look nicer!

I'll try to get more snails soon. Problem with not having a LFS nearby is how expensive shipping is! Might have to wait until I order CUC for the 170.