Live Rock with algae question

[reeferjw]

I am taking my 3 gal down and transferring the contents to my 20G, but the rock is in the middle of a big algae outbreak. lt looks like dark green slimy carpet. Without a skimmer, the 3 was too high maitenance and obviously there are lots of nutrients in the water for the algae to thrive.

Is it ok to just remove the rock and scrape off the aglae with a toothbrush before adding it to the other tank or will the algea spread? I have a skimmer on the 20 and will be adding an AC modded into a refugium also. I already have a nice bunch of macro that I picked up from Mark (flyingarmy) last night - chaeto, feather and grape caulpera.

 

[budsreef]

Assuming you have much stronger light in the 20G than the 3G putting it in the 20G even after cleaning it off it may come back with a vengence. If the 3G is now empty except the rock, I think I would try to get rid of it there first. Brush or pluck as much as you can off it, do a water change, and leave the lights out for a few days. Repeat plucking and brushing as necessary. Since you won't be feeding anything the nutrient level should fall way off.

 

[reeferjw]

That sounds like a good plan. I will give it a shot. Thanks!