sand issue

ok what with the green mossy grass stuff on my ls? the sand is also kinda brown layer on top problem or not? the purple and pink and red spots on the back wall of my tank ?


thanks sean newbie

 

well first of all we need pics to better help you

the purple pink and red is coraline algae it is normal and is okay in your tank.

green mossy stuff I have no idea need a pic

 

Pink / Purple spots sound like coralline algae, thats good for your tank, for the most part, no other algaes can grow where coralline does. The other stuff, i'm not sure what it is without a picture.

 

Sounds like the brown layer maybe Diatoms (brownish gold color), which is a nuisance algae. The green mossy stuff on the live rock sounds like Green Hair algae which is also a nuisance algae (It's not Macro Algae which is good). These are caused by phosphates, nitrates, lighting and even temperature. I had this when I first began. I had to lower my nitrate and rid myself of all the phosphates. I used PhosBan by Two Little Fishies with a PhosBan reactor to get my phosphates down to 0. Water changes lowered my nitrates to almost 0. I had to physically remove the hair algae by hand and a toothbrush (my wife's) and I didn't turn on my lights for about a week after I scrubbed them. I gradually began to light my tank for an hour, then two hours a day, up until I was at 6 hours a day. It took me about 2 weeks to get up to 6 hours.

I now have a tank with nothing but PURPLENESS The purple and red you're talking about (Coralline Algae), which I love and have been trying really hard to get more of...

Read up on Diatoms and Green Hair Algae~> HAPPY REEF KEEPING!!!

 

IMO, hair algae is the worst when it is on your sand. I've never had hair algae on my LR, only my sand, which by the sounds of it, is your problem as well. I would suggest stepping up your water changes, decreasing the amount you feed, and checking your nitrate/phosphate levels. My guess is that they will both read 0, meaning the hair algae is gobbling it up faster than it can build in your tank.
If they both turn up to be 0, there are two sides to this...

Positive side: Don't have to worry about nitrates killing your aquatic life, because your hair algae is getting rid of the nitrates for you!
Negative side: The hair algae will keep growing until you manually pick it out and step up your water changes, which in turn will begin allowing the nitrates to build back up causing the need for more water changes.

Kind of a catch 22 isn't it? ;D

The problem with hair algae is much greater for those of us with out refuges where a macro algae or other nitrate/phosphate consumer can be placed in to absorb these nasty compounds. That's why when we see algae, we need to nip it in the butt fast! When its on your sand, I would suggest using a well spaced out fork that can lift it right off the sand (mind you, some of the sand will stay attached to the algae- don't try and remove it, you'll only cause the algae to break off and spread like the black plague). Do this once a week, and bump up your water changes to at least 10-15% weekly until you notice that the hair algae has stopped growing. Then you should find a water change schedule that you can adhere to and stick with it to prevent the dreaded hair algae from making a sequel (Sequels always suck- especially the Matrix's). If you don't have any coral or light-requiring inverts, you could always drop your lighting down to minimal amounts, or even total blackout for a few days as well. (Just be sure that you gradually increase the photoperiod when you decide to turn those lights back on)

There are always other causes for algae including stray light hitting the tank (as in the case of having it too close to a window or such), old bulbs (they change frequency over a period of time- likely not the case if you are just starting out), or not using RO/DI water (which you should definitely start if you have not been- but there is plenty of posts on 3reef regarding that so I won't go into it). But generally, aside from these latter factors, it is usually a lack of water changes, and overfeeding (huge supply of nutrients that algae loves) that will cause hair algae on the sand, as well as on LR.

In the meantime until you get the hair algae under control, buying specific inverts may help... The Sea hare (type of nudibranch with specific dietary needs of hair algae and other algaes - careful, these guys will die if not enough food is present), or many of the sea urchins (careful with these as not all of them are reef safe) love to mow down on hair algae. (I apologize about that run on sentence of a paragraph)

Best start is to do some water tests, check those out, than follow the advice on these forums and all the literature on the internet regarding it.

And Good Luck! Keep us up to date on how the battle goes! And don't be discouraged by the constant battle with algae: it is probably one of the most common nuissances in any marine aquarium. However, despite that, it is one of the most natural things in the ocean, which can't survive without it. How bout that?