Why do Acropora turn green?

[Neuratox]

OMG I am on the same wavelength as @Rick5 AGAIN.

The rock, shall we say, does not look well aged. How old is this system? Dead or live rock start?

Ur numbers are fine, just keep doing what ur doing. PO4 up to .1 is just fine as are nitrates at 10 and the rest. The biome just looks a tad young to me & Rick.

Haha. Yeah the tank is 3 months old. I started with dry rock. I won't add live rock or mud because I won't risk any undesirable hitchhikers. Every coral I get goes through a rigorous cleaning both physical and chemical in an attempts to make sure that nothing foreign enters the system. I don't have any worms, aptasia, or vimited snails of any kind. I've had all of those issues in previous builds and did not want that with this one.
The one caveat to that is that I took the cleanest 10 lb of rock from my previous tank, scrubbed it down thoroughly and inspected for any pests. Once I felt confident that there was nothing invasive on it I put it in the sump. So technically I guess I did start with some live rock.

 

[ScottB]

Haha. Yeah the tank is 3 months old. I started with dry rock. I won't add live rock or mud because I won't risk any undesirable hitchhikers. Every coral I get goes through a rigorous cleaning both physical and chemical in an attempts to make sure that nothing foreign enters the system. I don't have any worms, aptasia, or vimited snails of any kind. I've had all of those issues in previous builds and did not want that with this one.
The one caveat to that is that I took the cleanest 10 lb of rock from my previous tank, scrubbed it down thoroughly and inspected for any pests. Once I felt confident that there was nothing invasive on it I put it in the sump. So technically I guess I did start with some live rock.

Okay the belt and suspenders approach. All good. I guess the question becomes how are you going to safely introduce the natural ocean biome to your "sterile" biome that these animals are evolutionarily accustomed to? Patience of a saint required. But all doable. Good luck. Greening is not a bad phase to go through at all. Many are worse than greening.

 

[Rick5]

Many are worse than greening

Like your fourteen green slimer colonies.

Sorry, I stubbed my toe and got mad.

 

[Falc!]

Almost all new sticks that have green on them eventually turn a very fluorescent green in my tank for a week or 2 and then the natural colors come out. The higher the light, the faster they turn in my tank....hybrid leds with 4 t5s...i run whites on t5s, coral+/purple+/2 aquablue specials and use blues/reds/greens on my leds

 

[homer1475]

Haha. Yeah the tank is 3 months old. I started with dry rock. I won't add live rock or mud because I won't risk any undesirable hitchhikers. Every coral I get goes through a rigorous cleaning both physical and chemical in an attempts to make sure that nothing foreign enters the system. I don't have any worms, aptasia, or vimited snails of any kind. I've had all of those issues in previous builds and did not want that with this one.
The one caveat to that is that I took the cleanest 10 lb of rock from my previous tank, scrubbed it down thoroughly and inspected for any pests. Once I felt confident that there was nothing invasive on it I put it in the sump. So technically I guess I did start with some live rock.

This is the number 1 issues right here, and exactly why people new to the hobby struggle. This new way of reefing where you keep everything sterile, does not work. Just have a look through the algae section of the forums. 99% of those threads, start with dry rock, and people keeping everything sterile.

The ocean is not a sterile environment, neither should your tank. Everything your trying to keep out, is natural and should be in the tank. You cannot have a healthy biome without all those "pests".

 

[ScottB]

Like your fourteen green slimer colonies.

Sorry, I stubbed my toe and got mad.

Yeah, when they go green, they get sent down to the farm team. For sale: $5 per pound.

 

[92Miata]

This is the number 1 issues right here, and exactly why people new to the hobby struggle. This new way of reefing where you keep everything sterile, does not work. Just have a look through the algae section of the forums. 99% of those threads, start with dry rock, and people keeping everything sterile.

The ocean is not a sterile environment, neither should your tank. Everything your trying to keep out, is natural and should be in the tank. You cannot have a healthy biome without all those "pests".

And what people don't realize is that this environment with its lack of biodiversity, and lack of competition is a perfect environment for pests - so when something does slip by, its a disaster. Vermetids, for example, are way less likely to be problematic when you have healthy populations of featherdusters, spirorbids, and other filter feeders.

 

[Steve and his Animals]

And what people don't realize is that this environment with its lack of biodiversity, and lack of competition is a perfect environment for pests - so when something does slip by, its a disaster. Vermetids, for example, are way less likely to be problematic when you have healthy populations of featherdusters, spirorbids, and other filter feeders.

That's what I tell customers about bristle worms. You're not going to eradicate them, so just give them a lot of competition. Hermits, shrimp, brittle stars, cucumbers, urchins, everything that eats the food your fish miss and help process their waste.

 

[Rick5]

That's what I tell customers about bristle worms. You're not going to eradicate them, so just give them a lot of competition. Hermits, shrimp, brittle stars, cucumbers, urchins, everything that eats the food your fish miss and help process their waste.

I never understood this. Bristleworms are an effective part of a tank’s clean up crew and a good sign.

 

[Steve and his Animals]

I never understood this. Bristleworms are an effective part of a tank’s clean up crew and a good sign.

Anything in a tank that can hurt you loses a lot of points for certain people lol. Plus some people think worms are gross.

 

[Rick5]

Anything in a tank that can hurt you loses a lot of points for certain people lol. Plus some people think worms are gross.

These are likely the same folks who house lionfish.


Bristleworms, other inverts and pods come with the territory. They’re also beneficial. I think the hobby gravitating toward a sterile environment is part of the problem.

People used to ask routinely why their acros were brown or pale. Now that’s been largely replaced with “why are my acros dying?”

 

[Steve and his Animals]

These are likely the same folks who house lionfish.


Bristleworms, other inverts and pods come with the territory. They’re also beneficial. I think the hobby gravitating toward a sterile environment is part of the problem.

People used to ask routinely why their acros were brown or pale. Now that’s been largely replaced with “why are my acros dying?”

I'm definitely in agreement, just being devils (or in my case, customer's) advocate. Especially when people are new, seeing stuff they didn't intentionally put in their tank freaks them out.

 

[Perry]

New trends in sterile reef approach keeps vendors in business. More coral sales to replace starving corals. More coral sales, a frustrated aquarist, and more products to remedy future issues. All completely unnecessary. Hey, but at least no aptasia, vermitids, bristles, dusters, sponges, micro stars, pods, tunicates, and...diverse bacteria populations. I suspect even in high nutrient environment, these corals will be toast. But, I bet dinos, cyano, and hair will love it

 

[Rick5]

Yeah, when they go green, they get sent down to the farm team. For sale: $5 per pound.

I still like the look of interweaving slimmer and some stags centered in a cube tank with a mix of anthias, cardinals and chromis, despite how common the slimer is.

 

[Perry]

I would also ask OP a question?
Do you have a clean up crew? Snails or hermits? I ask because, these too would need quarantine. Here's a hitch hiker for ya... If you want a sps tank, then worry about poccilipora, not aptasia, lol...
BTW, this came in on an astrea snail

 

[MexiReefer]

I am in the same boat os OP, everything that goes into may tank do grows but red turns red, anything blueish turn brown. I am in the neigborhood of 250 PAR and slowly increasing it.

 

[Rick5]

I am in the same boat os OP, everything that goes into may tank do grows but red turns red, anything blueish turn brown. I am in the neigborhood of 250 PAR and slowly increasing it.

LED?

 

[MexiReefer]

LED?

I have a 30gal cube, with 4 ATI 24'' tubes. Two Aqua Blue special, two Blue Plus, and a Kessil 360 @ 25% of Color, which yields some thing between the Aqua Blue and the Blue Plus.

 

[MexiReefer]

I am in the same boat os OP, everything that goes into may tank do grows but red turns red, anything blueish turn brown. I am in the neigborhood of 250 PAR and slowly increasing it.

something different from OP is my nutrients level. NO3 is around 1.0-2.0 and PO3 is between 0.08 and 0.10

 

[Spare time]

This is the number 1 issues right here, and exactly why people new to the hobby struggle. This new way of reefing where you keep everything sterile, does not work. Just have a look through the algae section of the forums. 99% of those threads, start with dry rock, and people keeping everything sterile.

The ocean is not a sterile environment, neither should your tank. Everything your trying to keep out, is natural and should be in the tank. You cannot have a healthy biome without all those "pests".

The problem with that statement is that your are not accounting for the fact that what thrives in our tank wouldn't decimate a healthy reef because a healthy reef has far more organisms than ours to eat and compete. We don't have an environment where AEFW, bad nudibranchs, plenty of pest algae,certain predators, aiptasia, etc. has their natural checks and balances