Reassurance please

[SAMSHUNG]

So I'm just starting out with my first sw aquarium (55gal) and I think I've done most of my homework but I'd like to be sure that what's occurring in my tank is normal.

Introduced 25 lbs of live rock to begin my tank cycling 7 days ago and all looked good. Water was very clear I dare say pristine. Started out cloudy after laying down the Aragamax/Live sand but cleared rapidly with flossing. I've been testing frequently and the ammonia peaked a few days ago and Nitrites have begun to register. 0 Nitrates thus far. All seemed normal until 2 days ago when my live rock began turning brown and depositing flaky brown residue on the sand bed. Determined this is a diatom bloom that I've read most new tanks encounter but the transformation from a clear tank to what appears to be a withering tank has got me a little concerned. What's added to my anxiety is that the glass which used to be crystal clear looks like it's got greenish brown spots peppered all over. I'm assuming this may be algae from the green hair algae that is beginning to develop on my live rock. I've been really tempted to prematurely introduce some Cerith snails to take care of things but have managed to govern myself so far.

This is my first post and if I've left out some relevant information please pardon my inexperience on the forums.

Sam

[gobytron]

Usually, once you have the food source present, it's okay to add the CUC.

Everything seems normal to me from your post though...

New tank syndrome...

[SAMSHUNG]

Thanks for replying. So am I to leave the diatom and algae? I was planning on vacuuming the sand and cleaning the glass but if it's food for the snails shall I just leave it? It's rather unsightly.

[gobytron]

I think one of the biggest mistakes made when people first get into the hobby is to muddle with the system while it is cycling and establishing it's biofilter due to the drastic visual and chemical changes taking place during this time.

It's only been a week or so right?


add your CUC and give it a month or three.

[rjengen]

I would add a CUC, and sit back and watch em work. It's honestly a pain in the ass to do this, because I know you're itchn' to start adding other stuff...but your best bet is to sit back and let nature due the work. I would leave your sand alone, and not vac it...everything you are seeing is basically natural in the cycle, and maturity of a tank. What are you're plans for the tank in the future? Reason I ask is cause it sounds like you're a little light on the amount of rock you have right now. I would double it at least, unless you have something planned that we don't know about

[intarsiabox]

Welcome to Canreef! You can still clean your glass, snails don't clean it very well anyway they just leave "kiss" marks all over it. I give mine a quick clean every 2 days, the longer you leave algae on the glass the harder it is to remove. Starting weekly 10% water changes will help start removing pollutants from the water but there's no need to start disturbing your sand bed too much yet. If you're getting green hair algae you may need to look at your light timing, if sunshine is hitting your tank or abundant phosphates are present in your water to prevent it from getting excessive. Don't worry too much about it, everyone has gone through it. As you can see on this forum we are all learning new things every day and all have trials and tribulations with our tanks. IMO the biggest reason people get out of reefing is from lack of water changes. There is no better thing you can do and if done every week you most likely will have a tank that you can be proud of. Good luck and ask lots of questions!

[SAMSHUNG]

Many thanks for the posters who chimed in with their reassurances that what I'm encountering is normal. As mentioned previously, from my researching I had some idea of what was happening to the tank but there remained a grain of doubt. Your replies however have eased my mind.

As for the plans for my tank, I basically want to cultivate a few LPS' and maybe an Acro or two. The reason I've only got 25 lbs of live rock is because I purchased 30 lbs of base rock in hopes of seeding it with the LR but after buying the LR I realized I should have forgone the base rock altogether. And now I no longer have much real estate to add more LR. *shrugs*

I'd also like to keep a couple of fish that really appeal to me such as a Mandarin Dragonet and a Firefish but believe me I'm in no rush to introduce fish until the tank is Fit For Fish. I learned to master this urge by cutting my teeth on a FW aquarium last year.

As for the green hair algae I suspect I may have been instrumental in it's ferocious growth. Firstly, I haven't been using RO water. Rather I've been using Brita filtered tap water (I hope I don't get forum ostracized for admitting to this). Yes it's slower than watching grass grow but it was cheaper than a $300 RO system. I do plan on getting one down the road though. Secondly, I'm running my dual strip T5's for 12 hours. One bulb is a Giesemann 10,000 and the the other is a Giesemann Actinic. I have another 2 dual strips that I will use when I begin keeping corals. The only reason I've got the lights going was to keep the Coralline from withering. No direct sunlight shines onto the tank. Should I be using lights at all at this point?

Finally, I was going to keep some chaeto in my display tank until I finished building my sump/refug. Is this ill advised at this stage in my tanks cycle?

[SmallFry]

So, like others have said, diatoms and algae are normal clean the glass by all means, but don't worry about the rest of it for now.. I also kept the lights on lots in my cycle to keep the coralline going, just means that there'll be that much more hair algae, but the CUC will get rid of that in time.. I also seeded dry rock (30lbs of lace rock with 2lbs of live rock), ti took a good while for the coralline to become established on the dry rock, but with a greater amount of live rock it should happen faster for you.

Once the cycle is complete ie ammonia and nitrite at 0 then a clean up crew will get to work on the algae. Be conservative on the clean up crew - many places advise huge ones, which eat the algae in no time then start to starve. Start off small and build up. There may be a lot of algae right now, but with no fish yet you aren't adding nutrients to the system, so once removed, the algae shouldn't grow back too fast. In my 27 gallon I have 5 banded trochus and 6 cerith I think, plus 2 bumblebees I never see, but are apparently a mixed blessing and a big spiky looking one I can't remember the name of! These keep up no problem with algae from the nutrient output of three fish and a cleaner shrimp that eats like a pig.
The banded trochus were particularly good on the hair algae.

Water changes will reduce the nutrients that are output by the snails as they munch through the algae - the bigger the water change the more nutrient load you remove - though the biggest I ever did was 50%, and that was a smallish tank, so water changes are less expensive in salt etc for me than they will be for you. I don't have an RO unit either, but I found that our local gas station has one and it's about $1.50 for a 5 gal refill of water once you've got the jug. Probably not as pure water as some would advocate, but I feel it's a good compromise..

Hope this is of some reassurance, and sorry if some of it's a bit vague, but I had all 4 wisdom teeth out yesterday and I'm on some serious drugs right now..

Oh and if you haven't already, read Myka's guide on getting rid of hair algae (very helpful).

Rob.

[DiverDude]

Originally Posted by Samshung

Firstly, I haven't been using RO water. Rather I've been using Brita filtered tap water (I hope I don't get forum ostracized for admitting to this). Yes it's slower than watching grass grow but it was cheaper than a $300 RO system. I do plan on getting one down the road though.

If you have the patience to filter tank water with a Brita, then you likely have the patience to do well with your tank !

I bit of advice: If you plan on using RO/DI water, get a filter system NOW. I made the mistake of setting up my tank and running it for about a month (with weekly water changes) and it's just a 30 gal. I spent over $50 on water from the supermarket and that $$ should have gone towards the RO/DO system that I knew I was going to buy later anyhow.

Also, water changes are the bane of any reefer but they are incredibly important. Given that, you need to spend some time (and $) making sure that it's as easy and convenient as possible and that means being able to make your own water. Finally, if something ever goes wrong in your tank, you need the ability to do substantial (30%, 40% or more) water changes as quickly as possible. Being able to make water quickly (and keeping some on hand as well is always a good idea) is invaluable for this. For this reason, you should always have 1/4 bucket of salt (or more) on hand at all times !

[intarsiabox]

There are lots of people in BC along the coast that just use tap water without issue. Hopefully someone from Vancouver will chime in to verify whether or not an RO/DI unit is required. You could also look at a phosban reactor with phosphate removing media such as Chemipur Elite or the like, again only if it is required.