Al.B
Community Member
White patch showed up a few days after adding the new gsp. Also just started with what I assume is cyano. Not sure if they are related. Tank is a month old and little to no nutrients so far. Wondering what the white patch is?
Weird white growth on new GSP
- Thread starter Al.B
- Start date
- Tagged users None
1979fishgeek
Well-Known Member
Pretty sure that’s areas of Coraline algae dying off. It’s a young tank so check your Alkalinity/Calcium/magnesium levels are stable. In newly setup tanks I often see these parameters rapidly changing where the tanks settling in.
Even in mature systems when I see white patches appearing in Coraline algae (and I’ve ruled out a urchin not eating it) It’s often a issue with major elements depleting and particularly magnesium.
The green cyano is also common in new tanks, especially in very clean tanks with low in nutrients, think of your new rock as a battleground with competing armies constantly battling for space. Diatoms are common with new rock releasing silicates, they burn out on their own in time, cyano which is particularly good at thriving in low no3 and po4 environments quickly out complete algae which struggle in tanks with low nutrients. Your tanks about to go through several months of ugly stages where these “base of the food chain organisms” battle it out. Just keep your parameters in check and aim for about 5-15 in nitrates and about 0.05 to 0.1 phosphates don’t over light your tank running’s lights too long , keep up with regular waterchanges (10% a week) and it will be beautiful reef in time.
Tanks cycle pretty quickly taking just a few months for nitrifying bacteria to colonise. But tanks take about a year to really settle down.
Even in mature systems when I see white patches appearing in Coraline algae (and I’ve ruled out a urchin not eating it) It’s often a issue with major elements depleting and particularly magnesium.
The green cyano is also common in new tanks, especially in very clean tanks with low in nutrients, think of your new rock as a battleground with competing armies constantly battling for space. Diatoms are common with new rock releasing silicates, they burn out on their own in time, cyano which is particularly good at thriving in low no3 and po4 environments quickly out complete algae which struggle in tanks with low nutrients. Your tanks about to go through several months of ugly stages where these “base of the food chain organisms” battle it out. Just keep your parameters in check and aim for about 5-15 in nitrates and about 0.05 to 0.1 phosphates don’t over light your tank running’s lights too long , keep up with regular waterchanges (10% a week) and it will be beautiful reef in time.
Tanks cycle pretty quickly taking just a few months for nitrifying bacteria to colonise. But tanks take about a year to really settle down.
Similar threads
