Good or start of a problem

[vinnnocc]

Hey all my tank has been running for 1 month and 1 week. Cycled about two weeks ago did a 5gal water change

Started with 20lbs base rock and 3lbs live rock and 20lbs live sand

I have 10 blue/red crabs and one turbo snail. Cuc

My water levels are fine

Now the base rock is turning green and the glass is light green (turbo snail is working on that) and their is a very small patch of GHA on my back wall.

Are my base rocks gonna turn into GHA?247655

[MondoBongo]

you will probably grow some GHA for a bit. it is a phase most new tanks go through. i know mine did.

just keep up with water changes and husbandry, make sure you're using good RODI water to mix your salt with, and have the right clean up crew.

over time if you take good care of it, it will go away. then you will probably have the joy of fighting cyano for a bit. ;)

[peasofme]

the pic is too far away to tell if it's gha. gha is not normal. it came from something you added such as live rock or live sand. gha is very bad.

[Dsotto]

Looks to me like part of a new tank cycle. You will go through many different algae outbreak, diatoms, etc. as stated earlier make sure you are using quality water. Your dry rock might be leaching phosphates helping feed your algae.

[vinnnocc]

Thanks for the replys.

The rock is green like bright green. Not fossy or look like gha. Just green 247666

Sorry the picture is loading sideways

And the zoa been growing off a piece of live rock

[peasofme]

if the algae starts to grow little hairs, you should be very worried. if not, you're fine.

[vinnnocc]

After doing a little bit more reading im going with my dry rock leaching po4. Well guess ill have to wait for my skimmer and intank basket to come in the mail

[jcarey]

After doing a little bit more reading im going with my dry rock leaching po4. Well guess ill have to wait for my skimmer and intank basket to come in the mail

yeah, but if you have gha you will want to get rid of the problem, it will take over your tank unless you know how to really control your "ates". unless you eliminate the food source for it, excess "ates", it will not go away *normally as if it's part of a regular cycle. it's a permanent fixture and ugly in your display. if it's still a new tank only five weeks, no one like to hear it but i would start over and bleach my rock and get new sand or whatever your substrate is.

not trying to be a downer :( but if your just starting out, best to start out right.

truth be told, you will probably get it anyway down the road from another reefer on a frag or something, unless you quarantine, so i'd consider that before you decide you might want to start over.

:blown:

[peasofme]

gha kills all coral in your tank and very hard to get rid of

[ca1ore]

Algae is present in every tank, it is just a matter of whether it becomes a problem or not. For example, I run an algal turf scrubber on my tank that grows boatloads of GHA, yet I see no evidence of it in my display. So, clearly the conditions exist in my tank for GHA.

Essentially, you have to mange import/export of nutrients through skimming, GFO and GAC so that the conditions do not overly favor the growth of algae; and then you must include animals that eat what does try to grow in the tank (hermits, snails, crabs).

A green dusting of algae on the rocks and on the glass is perfectly normal once a tank has cycled. I do agree that if you allow GHA to get established in the display, it can be difficult to manage.