Live rock turning green

[j80]

i have a 55gal reef tank thats 3 months old and my live rock is turning green i have four 48" t-5s on the tank is there anything i can do to stop this?

[lazylivin]

Can you post up your water parameters (Nitrates & Phosphates)? Would also help if you could tell us about your water change schedule, how much how often, what type of filtration do you have. The more information you can give the better.

[discus513]

Is it Green strings or fuzz? if so check your Phoshates. check into the many different ways to lower your KH.

[cyberwollf]

There are also green forms of coraline.  Really need pics to see.

[j80]

I change 15% every month all the ammonia nitrite and nitrate seem to be near 0. I have a wet dry sump and a hob filter. They look like strings coming from the sand and live rock. I have a koi pond that had string algae that i got rid of by using a uv light and a good filter but in saltwater i have no idea. This did not show up until i upgraded to the t-5s

[j80]

i dont check phosphates show i get a test kit for that?

[lazylivin]

The food source for algae is good lighting and nutrients in the water. Since you have to have light you are going to have to remove the nutrients. There are several things you can do but for now consider more frequent, larger water changes. Try double size biweekly to see where that gets you. UV sterlizer are used in marine tanks occasionally but far less effective. Certainly couldn't hurt.

[discus513]

How long are you leaving your lights on? I am having the same problem since I upgraded mine, I am waiting until I do my tank switch over, and I am going to run a Phosban Reactor, and some Cheato to try to lower my Phosphates. You can try to cut back on your light cycle, and there are also other products to lower your phosphates. How long are you leaving your light on? are you running all four bulbs all the time?

[Joel]

The wet dry type filter & lack of quality protein skimmer can both contribute to nuisance algae as well and the infrequent water change.

What type of water is being used for water changes and for evaporation top off? If your using tap water of questionable store bought water from the local pet shop this also can contribute.

Check the nitrate & phosphate values.

[rayviv]

any reason why you cannot turn your lights OFF for 3-4 days?

[Viggen]

Like Joel stated wet/dry is bad for a reef tank & a HOB skimmer will not do much of anything

Reduce the time the lights are on...... get a better skimmer....... slowly swap the w/d for a refugium

UV might help but a proper filtration system will be better

[Kenn]

a HOB skimmer will not do much of anything

On this one point only I would humbly disagree... It depends on what HOB skimmer you have.

My Octopus DBH-300f HOB skimmer would skim a 55g extremely well.

[j80]

How long should i run my lights? Also why is the wet/dry bad for a reef?

[Secondgen]

Wet and dry filters are not ideal for a reef setup due to the fact that they can harber/cause nitrate problems as a result of trapped waste within the media itself.

[Kenn]

Wet and dry filters are not ideal for a reef setup due to the fact that they can harber/cause nitrate problems as a result of trapped waste within the media itself.

+1