[calico hunter]

one more questioin thier some brown alage growing on my sand what is it and should i get rid of it

[RyanG]

You need to blow some powerheads to it. that should clear it up!

[hags08]

I had the same exact problem recently and i bought two sand sifting starfish and 12 nassarius snails that keep the sand clean for my 90 gallon tank. I would definetly try these. your sand bed needs to be deep enough-2 inches because the starfish and the snails bury themselves in the sand to eat their food and protect themselves, which stirs up the sand.

[calico hunter]

great but its also taken over my live rock now yicks

[hags08]

try some snails or crabs

[reefaddict]

Make sure you are not over feeding. Treat the cause not the symptom. Water quality is key.

[angie555]

Also I was told that you could be keeping your lights on to long try turning them off about a hour eairler.

[reefyredfish]

I've got the same problem. I've been told to get somew sand sifters (crabs, stars, tiger tail sea cuke, cerith snails). That sort of thing.

[for2nato]

increase your clean up crew. improve the water quality and last resort turn down your light cycle. if you do the first two the problem should go away without messing with the lights though.

[c-c]

I had it too and in some instances, excess nutrient levels cause these blooms. (High nitrate levels as well as phosphates). Does it grow to a brown mucous slime covering most of the tank contents if left unchecked?? If so, you must physically remove it with a siphon, and do frequent water changes. How old is your tank? Some of this will clear up as your tank matures and you develop more bacteria in your live sand and rock.

[ACE]

I was told to turn down my light cycle and get some more cleaners!!!

[glampka]

Silicates will cause diatoms as well. If the tank is new & you don't have anything in it then silicates are probably the cause rather than nitrates. Get a silicate remover & that should clear up the problem.

[wreckdiver]

I have a 90 Gal Bowfront that I have setup with the help of my LFS but I have a question I am hoping someone can reassure me about. The tank is 10 days into the initial cycle. It was setup with 88 pounds of Pucani Live Rock and premixed deionized saltwater. After about 5 days of pure stink and numerous skimmer changes (sometimes as many a 6 a day) it stated to look like an aquarium and I could see all of the rock clearly and so forth. Now on day 10 the ammonia is still way up and now I have started getting brown diatomic algae stating to show up. The LFS said this is normal for the initial cycle and after the ammonia and nitrites zero out, then I can throw in the cleanup crew for the algae and if it gets too bad then a partial water change. Is that all right? I feel that I should be doing something else even though all of the forums on the net say use patience,

90 Gal Bowfront
692 Watt of Light (2 x 250 MH HQI and 2 96W PC Atnics and 6 moon leds)
18Gal refugiam sump
Vortex Skimmer
1 800Gph return pump
1 980Gph powerhead
1 800Gph skimmer pump
1/4 HP Chiller
88 lbs Pucani Live Rock
80 lbs CaribSea Live Sand

Replacing the 980G Powerhead with 2 Hydor Koralia 4 1200Gph next week.

Thanks in Advance,
WreckDiver
..::Welcome to Wreck-Diver.net ::..

[RyanG]

Wreckdiver your ammonia levels will go down, just patience. Expect to wait at least two more weeks. Nice tank btw!

And welcome to RB!

[wreckdiver]

I am not worried about the ammonia as I know that it will plummet over the next couple of weeks or so, then the Nitrites will spike, then both should zero out and only a trace <20ppm of Nitrates, the the tank is ready for the clean up crew to move in, however should I be concerned at all with the algae or other oddities that could creep up until it is finished cycling?

Thanks
WreckDiver

[RyanG]

Not really, this is normal. I would remove as much as the algae as possible though.

[wreckdiver]

That is what I have done. It got pretty thick on the tops of the live rock and the back of the tank. I moved all of the rock around (mostly just to move it and knock around any organics that have died off since starting this 2 weeks ago.) and then cleaned behind it and all, dropped a fresh sack of AC in the sump and algae growth has slowed to a crawl. Skimmer has only needed cleaned twice in the last 5 days, water is clear as glass except either micro air bubbles or precipitate is in the water. PH is staying between 7.8 and 8.2, but the ammonia still has not dropped. Don't even have to wait the ten minutes for the test because in less than 3 it is bright blue. Just trying to keep patient like everyone keeps saying, but its hard not to have anything in there to watch. you think a hermit or two would survive the hostile environment.


WreckDriver