Ugly stage or am I doing something wrong?

[EEE1986]

Hello, I started this Fluval 13.5 42 days ago. First added invertebrates after completing my cycle 22 days ago and fish 19 days ago (2 clown fish). I now have 2 clown fish, 1 watchman goby, 1 fire shrimp, 2 nassarius snails, 6 hermit crabs (mix of red, blue, zebra), 5 trochus snails, 5 bumblebee snails, 1 fire shrimp and one conch. My ammonia has been 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 0, phosphates 0.5 ppm. I do a 10-20% water change weekly with store bought saltwater, My filtration includes live rock, live sand, stock filter sponge with carbon and biological filtration media in chamber 2 and rubble rock + seachem matrix in chamber 1. I have also added a bottle of tigger pods the same day I added the clownfish because of some diatom build up in the sand and under the rock. Lights are stock lights that are on for 12 hours a day. I also have the stock return pump and an AI nero 3 for flow. Over the last 2 weeks or so green algae has been spreading across the rocks, glass and even the shell of my conch. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong. If I'm doing something wrong, how can I correct this? Attached is a before and after.

 

[Timfish]

Perfectly normal. The system in my tank thread is less than a month old if you want to check out a system set up by a crusty old geezer.

 

[Unitylover]

Hello, I started this Fluval 13.5 42 days ago. First added invertebrates after completing my cycle 22 days ago and fish 19 days ago (2 clown fish). I now have 2 clown fish, 1 watchman goby, 1 fire shrimp, 2 nassarius snails, 6 hermit crabs (mix of red, blue, zebra), 5 trochus snails, 5 bumblebee snails, 1 fire shrimp and one conch. My ammonia has been 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 0, phosphates 0.5 ppm. I do a 10-20% water change weekly with store bought saltwater, My filtration includes live rock, live sand, stock filter sponge with carbon and biological filtration media in chamber 2 and rubble rock + seachem matrix in chamber 1. I have also added a bottle of tigger pods the same day I added the clownfish because of some diatom build up in the sand and under the rock. Lights are stock lights that are on for 12 hours a day. I also have the stock return pump and an AI nero 3 for flow. Over the last 2 weeks or so green algae has been spreading across the rocks, glass and even the shell of my conch. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong. If I'm doing something wrong, how can I correct this? Attached is a before and after.

Seems fine, just make sure to clean it up with a brush if you don't want it to end up how I did...

 

[exnisstech]

When started looking like that I turned off the whites and it all disappeared lol. Well not really but it wasn't visible under blues. I did nothing at this stage but add some cuc which you already have.

 

[EEE1986]

Seems fine, just make sure to clean it up with a brush if you don't want it to end up how I did...

I tried with a toothbrush but it didn't make a dent.

 

[Unitylover]

I tried with a toothbrush but it didn't make a dent.

Oh it's hard algae then?
Could honestly leave it. Doesn't look bad, nor hard the tank.

 

[ColorMeGone]

Get your N03 up.
0 is not good

 

[exnisstech]

Yours looks like it off to a good start. This tank was started with all dry rock in the display but I had live rock in the sump. This was mine at about 9 months. I did nothing to clean anything other than blow the rocks off to remove detritus and vacuum what collects in a corner.

Date on the image should be 12/3/23

This at around 20 months. I've still done nothing but blow the rocks off with a baster and vacuum detritus . IMO the key to avoiding nuisance algae for me was the live rock in the sump but I think tangs are a huge help as well but won't work in all tanks.

How are you testing nitrate? I don't like to see zero.

 

[EEE1986]

Beautiful tank. I’d love to add tangs but my tank is too small. I’ve been testing with the API kit so who knows how reliable that is. I’ve been feeding more to try and boost the nitrate a little so we’ll see where it’s at when I next test Saturday.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I have also added a bottle of tigger pods the same day I added the clownfish because of some diatom build up in the sand and under the rock.

FYI - "Tigger" pods are basically fish treats and don't last long in most tanks. They are a colder water species and spend the majority of the time in the water column. Tisbe pods (and other harpacticoid species) are a better choice if the goal is to establish pods as part of your cuc - they breed easily and have a benthic stage.

 

[OctaviusBrine]

Yours looks like it off to a good start. This tank was started with all dry rock in the display but I had live rock in the sump. This was mine at about 9 months. I did nothing to clean anything other than blow the rocks off to remove detritus and vacuum what collects in a corner.

This at around 20 months. I've still done nothing but blow the rocks off with a baster and vacuum detritus . IMO the key to avoiding nuisance algae for me was the live rock in the sump but I think tangs are a huge help as well but won't work in all tanks.

How are you testing nitrate? I don't like to see zero.

That was a busy 9 days for you. I’ve never seen gsp or coraline grow that fast.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

That was a busy 9 days for you. I’ve never seen gsp or coraline grow that fast.

9 days? Lol, read again

 

[EEE1986]

FYI - "Tigger" pods are basically fish treats and don't last long in most tanks. They are a colder water species and spend the majority of the time in the water column. Tisbe pods (and other harpacticoid species) are a better choice if the goal is to establish pods as part of your cuc - they breed easily and have a benthic stage.

Good to know. I knew this ahead of time but that was all the LFS had and I was hoping at least some would find their way to the rocks and establish a population but I haven’t seen any since 3 days after I added them. Definitely lost a majority if not all of them to the clowns and the fire shrimp. I’ll order some of the others from online

 

[exnisstech]

Beautiful tank. I’d love to add tangs but my tank is too small. I’ve been testing with the API kit so who knows how reliable that is. I’ve been feeding more to try and boost the nitrate a little so we’ll see where it’s at when I next test Saturday.

I like Hanna high range nitrate but use nyos also for nitrate. Color changing test kits are more affordable. I've used salifert also but not for nitrate. I would probably get a kit other than api before making changes just to be safe.

That was a busy 9 days for you. I’ve never seen gsp or coraline grow that fast.

I thought I had pretty good growth on some acros as well Good catch. Correction made lol

 

[Red_Beard]

Looks great! White rocks are only possible in a new tank. Those things will start to grow all sorts of stuff, but should settle down as a combination of hues, some purples, greens, a little brown. They may even get pretty shaggy for a while. Don't get too hung up on it, it means progress! Act, but don't over-react. Also, no nitrates is a recipe for a bad time, i would shoot for 5-10.

 

[EEE1986]

Looks great! White rocks are only possible in a new tank. Those things will start to grow all sorts of stuff, but should settle down as a combination of hues, some purples, greens, a little brown. They may even get pretty shaggy for a while. Don't get too hung up on it, it means progress! Act, but don't over-react. Also, no nitrates is a recipe for a bad time, i would shoot for 5-10.

May I ask what the big deal about not having nitrates is? I know it’s required to have some for coral but right now I have none other than what I suspect is some hitchhiker coral that came with the live rock and that thing is growing everyday.

 

[exnisstech]

From what I've read zero can bring on Dinos which are very tough to get rid of. Again info I've read as I've been fortunate enough to have avoided them so far.

 

[Red_Beard]

May I ask what the big deal about not having nitrates is? I know it’s required to have some for coral but right now I have none other than what I suspect is some hitchhiker coral that came with the live rock and that thing is growing everyday.

SOMETHING is going to grow. The stuff that grows best in 0 nitrates is dinos and cyano. We may not be able to control what it is that does grow, but we can heavily influence it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello, I started this Fluval 13.5 42 days ago. First added invertebrates after completing my cycle 22 days ago and fish 19 days ago (2 clown fish). I now have 2 clown fish, 1 watchman goby, 1 fire shrimp, 2 nassarius snails, 6 hermit crabs (mix of red, blue, zebra), 5 trochus snails, 5 bumblebee snails, 1 fire shrimp and one conch. My ammonia has been 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 0, phosphates 0.5 ppm. I do a 10-20% water change weekly with store bought saltwater, My filtration includes live rock, live sand, stock filter sponge with carbon and biological filtration media in chamber 2 and rubble rock + seachem matrix in chamber 1. I have also added a bottle of tigger pods the same day I added the clownfish because of some diatom build up in the sand and under the rock. Lights are stock lights that are on for 12 hours a day. I also have the stock return pump and an AI nero 3 for flow. Over the last 2 weeks or so green algae has been spreading across the rocks, glass and even the shell of my conch. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong. If I'm doing something wrong, how can I correct this? Attached is a before and after.

Surface/film algae and normal and a good time to add snails such as Turbo grazer, astrea, nerite, trochus and nassarius, Reduce white intensity slightly