Newbie Live Rock Question, Wonder whats Happening.

[CubeCube]

Hi Manhattan Reefers :
I am new to saltwater tank and have setup my Biocube 29 for 11 months.
All my fish and corals are doing great.
I have been using Prime to mix my saltwater. In the last two months it starts to have some cyano and green algae. ( Not too much, just a little here and there)
I purchase a BRS GFO last month and it didn't help much.
I finally purchase a BRS RO/DI system couple of days ago.
Do a 75% water change and siphon the sand bed two days ago. Today i notice on the side of the tank, some spot on the live rock turn bright white. Looks like when i cycle my live rock.
Normal or do i need to do something ?
Nitrate is 0 (Been around 20-30 for several month, down to 0 after i use Instant Ocean Nitrate Reducer for 2 Months)

 

[Shastri Sookraj]

White on the liverock, is usually coralline alage dieing off from to much air, sun burn....retrace your steps.

 

[BioMan]

actually my rock looks like that after one of the larger snails comes by and cleans up

 

[CubeCube]

Thanks a lot for the input.
Will keep changing more water and see if they goes back to normal.

 

[reefer4eva]

Cyano is a bacteria not algae.it usually develops in low flow areas and thrives off dead matter(dead pods,dead bacteria,die off from the rocks etc..etc..)I think it could have happened from a couple of things. To start using tap water contains alot of phosphates and harsh metal,clorine,Floride (all these things can kill good bacteria ..since you now have an Rodi filter keep doing waterchanges,add more flow to the tank and add more of a clean up crew (snails,crabs) fight bad bacteria with good bacteria. .I'm not sure if you add anything to the tank but I would recommend Special Blend most petstores carry it .good luck and let us know how it goes...good or bad

 

[Marcellina]

My rocks look like that after my huge turbo or sea urchin have passed over it.

Do you remember what was on the white area before? Was is coralline or cyano?

I have a 29 Biocube I think for 6 or 7 years now. I have found the less stuff I add to my tank the better it thrives. When I was getting cyano I added I think its called fliter floss?? YOu can probably get it at any aquarium store, it looks like a thick white felt. I cut a rectangular piece and place it on the top of my middle chamber in the back( I keep a bag of chemipure in that chamber too so I lay the felt on top of that).

I change it out when it turns brown(from the lovely fish poop and any uneaten food). You can either toss or wash the dirty one, just make sure not to use soap just rinse in hot water if you decided to reuse it. Ive been doing that for years and no more cyano!

Anyway just a little tip that works for me that I thought I would share.

 

[BioMan]

1 more thing,, in all my biocubes the stock return pump was not enough flow for the entire system. I got a second powerhead, small as you can find although MP10 wireless seems to be preferred, because as things in the tank grow you can create "dead zones" there too. and nothing good has ever come from those chemicals because you cant banish the bad stuff with prime just make it less toxic.

 

[CoralOfDuty]

I would leave the water alone now. a 75% water change and then changing it again is going to throw things out of whack imo. think you should leave it alone and just keep topping off with RO water for a bit. add a powerhead like bioman said as well. you can get a cheap one from amazon for 20 bucks.

 

[Marcellina]

Bioman I didnt like the weak pump either, I switched out the return to a stronger pump that still fits in that chamber and stuck a Koralia powerhead in there too, it really helps.
Prime is just neutralizing the problem for an immediate fix but its not curing it.