Coraline vs. Green Algae

[chrishew09]

So I just added live rock to my new tank two weeks ago, the rock had great Coraline on it form the previous owner. I have noticed that the coraline seems to be receding and green algae is growing. There is also green algae growing on the glass, I have one turbo snail...thats it right now. Should I worry? I Coraline better then green algae? Oh, by the way its a 36 gallon with about 20lb's of LR, and T5.

 

[hediki12]

im not a algea guru but so i cant realy help. but i recommend u get more rock.(1lbs pr gal) and more snails. but is it hard or soft green algae?

 

[reefman]

thats a very common problem starting out. the green algea are out competing the coraline algea due to undesirable levels of 1 or more of the following:
phosphates
silicates
nitrates
flow
calcium
alk
lighting

 

[chrishew09]

thats a very common problem starting out. the green algea are out competing the coraline algea due to undesirable levels of 1 or more of the following:
phosphates
silicates
nitrates
flow
calcium
alk
lighting

Okay, well I can't test for all of that but here's what I do know.
Did a 5 gallon water change Sunday, two weeks after adding the rock. I have one Koralis3, 24" 196w T5, no supplements added.
But should I be worried, is coraline batter then green algae?

 

[chrishew09]

im not a algea guru but so i cant realy help. but i recommend u get more rock.(1lbs pr gal) and more snails. but is it hard or soft green algae?

Not sure if its hard or soft, it comes off the glass easy.

 

[tacson]

how's your light ? how many hrs a day try to cut it down .

 

[duke62]

hey chris you need to put some more info on here.are you running phosban and carbon reactor if not get it.do u have a sump.if so what in your sump.get some hermits and more snails.do u have a fuge.are you using ro/di.the most important piece of equipment you can have in this hobby is to have testers so u can pinpoint whats going on
alk
cal
ph
nitrate
nitrite
ammonia
phos
these are what you need.its hard to help if you cant tell us these things.so what your asking us to do is guess and thats not going to help you....hope this helps

 

[noelskii]

coralline is better than green algae

 

[hijinks]

also.. when I started my tank 2 weeks after adding the rock my water params were fine but I didn't have a skimmer running.. I got a green hair algae outbreak. I bought a big skimmer from a member here to overskim and the algae slowly went down.

Also if your water params are fine like mine.. you may be running your lights too long

 

[chrishew09]

Okay here's my specs.....
36 Gallon Corner Bow
Nova 196W T5 on for about 9hrs a day.
Wet/Dry
Coralife 65 Skimmer
Koralia 3
20lb's of LR
Three small fish
maybe two turbo snails
one crab
PH around 8.3
Salinity around 1.0215
RO water

The tanks about two months old, but LR was just added two weeks ago. You can see my tank thread here....

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/tank-threads/50222-my-first-saltwater-tank.html

 

[duke62]

alright get rid of the bioballs in the wet/dry.they collect detrius which will make nitrates spike.do it slowly dont take them all out at once..2nd dont buy anything else until you buy some parameter testers the ones i mentioned above.salifert is what i use for alk,cal,mag,phos.aquarium pharmaceuticals is what i use for ph,nitrate,nitrite and ammonia.ro is a good start i guess at least u are using something but i would get an ro/di unit.are you planning on getting corals if so you need to raise your salinity to 1.024.get some more snails,i would get 7 snails and 10 hermits.get yourself some sand sifters to move that sand around.get rid of those damsels.its a small tank and they will go after any small fish you add.get more rock...hope im helping

 

[chrishew09]

alright get rid of the bioballs in the wet/dry.they collect detrius which will make nitrates spike.do it slowly dont take them all out at once..2nd dont buy anything else until you buy some parameter testers the ones i mentioned above.salifert is what i use for alk,cal,mag,phos.aquarium pharmaceuticals is what i use for ph,nitrate,nitrite and ammonia.ro is a good start i guess at least u are using something but i would get an ro/di unit.are you planning on getting corals if so you need to raise your salinity to 1.024.get some more snails,i would get 7 snails and 10 hermits.get yourself some sand sifters to move that sand around.get rid of those damsels.its a small tank and they will go after any small fish you add.get more rock...hope im helping

Thanks duke, all great suggestions. I am planning on getting rid of the damsels this weel.