[pthornton]

Morning all. Have a couple of questions. We have been in the midst of setting up a 75 gallon tank and today, the live rock should arrive. But I have a couple of worrisome questions:

1. The water temp is all over the board? I have a digital thermometer attached and the readings have gone from 76 up to 86, even though I have turned the thermostats on both heaters down to 70 ... the air temp in the house is 70-72 and the lights haven't been put on yet (although the glass lids are still on) so not sure what's going on or how to combat this. The last thing we want if to boil the rock when it arrives.

2. The live rock we have coming is fully cured (although I expect I will need to cure them a little more because of the die-off from transit), but I have read conflicting recommendations that I should/shouldn't attach the lights - which way do I go? Will I get the algae bloom regardless?

Thanks in advance for all your help ... you all have already been livesavers!

[robe25m]

I would pick up a cheap suction cup thermometer, I had a medical grade diggy therm that malfunctioned, it did what you described, it was all over the map, It would read 72 then 20 minutes later spike to 86, this therm needed to be reset, pushed a pin into a tiny hole for a complete hardware reset, now works great, not sure if this is a option for yours...

I wouldent worry so much about live rock, but thats just me...

I wouldent worry about algae unless that tank is filled with tap water

[glampka]

There's the answer to the temperature problem - the glass lids - get rid of them. They tend to keep heat trapped in. Also where do you have the temperature sensor? If it's close to the heater you're reading the fluctuation in temperature from the time the heater kicks in. What lighting do you have for the tank?
You will still get some die-off from cured rock. It will be nowhere near what you get from uncured. You don't really have to put the lights on when the rock goes in for a few day. I have always run the lights & never had a problem.

[pthornton]

Thanks. I will have to check to see if the thermometer has a reset button, but since there is only water in the tank (and live sand), I had the thermometer stuck in the middle of the glass in the back - midway between both heaters - but I have tried multiple locations and all have given drastically changing readings.

The lights I have to put on are Nova Extreme T5s - 4 54w T5s, 4 54w actinic and 4 moonlights. I was worried with the temperature so high now (even with the heaters on 70) that putting the lights on would help create a giant 75 gallon pot of stew.

I figured for a little die off, but once I put the lights on can/should I expect a big algae bloom? If so, want can/should I do to combat it?

Thanks for everyone's help!

[robe25m]

From what I read a algae bloom is going to happen no matter what, may start with the ugly brown stuff, I have had 2 salt tanks, both had this occur, to combat only use filtered water and atleast distilled this give the algae nothing to eat causing death, you could also cut back your lighting during the bloom..

Other then that let it happen, dont use tap water and it shouldent be a issue, introduce some coralline algae and you will be good to go...

[glampka]

Do you have any powerheads going in the tank & if so what brand & model?

[reefdaddy725]

I would think that the thermometer is bad. The most acurate is the glass tube type and it only costs 2 to 3 bucks at the lfs. At least it will double check the digital one you have. You will get alge with the lights on but it is going to happen even if you leave the tank for a few weeks without them on people usually see blooms as soon as they start turning the lights on. I would put them on for a few hours a day increasing the on time a few minutes a day. Run your skimmer and you will be fine. Don't go getting crazy when you see the bloom and think your doing something wrong your not. The live rock will have die off but it might not be too bad, as a matter of fact some people never see water parimiters spike at all. Good luck and take a pic of your aquascape we would all like to see it.

[pthornton]

Thanks so much.

I have two powerheads running now - Hydor Koralia 3's, which I think move around 850 gph each.

I will grab another thermometer and double check the accuracy.

Is it better to just go ahead and turn the lights on and get the algae bloom out of the way? I have heard there is an addative that can be added to combat it. Does it work? Oh, and how do I add coralline algae?

[reefdaddy725]

I would put the lights on. Coralline grows with time. I use B Ionic in my tank and the stuff grows well. I like B Ionic because it is easy and does a good job keeping CA levels up and overdosing is almost impossible key word ALMOST I wouldn't add anything to kill off the alge bloom a clean up crew will take care of it for you after you cycled.

[lynnvangsnes]

Don't worry about the algae bloom. It's going to happen, and it will stop soon after it begins. Watch your water parameters, and add some reef critters to keep it clean when it's ready. You can leave your lights on or off during cycling your rock; it really doesn't matter. I leave mine on during cycling because I think it's easier to see how the tank does before adding corals or fish, as far as temp swings go. The coralline algae will probably already be on your shipment of LR; if so, then leave your lights on to help it grow as well.

[pthornton]

Reef ... Question then ... once I have the rock in and I have cycled the water - how long should I wait, as I have heard varying opinions ... and when is it safe to put the cleaning crew in? I know I need to watch for the ammonia/nitrate/nitrite spikes, but once they come back down, can I put the crew in ... or do i need to wait till the algae is in full force or neither? Thanks.

[pthornton]

Thanks lynn ... still a little confused about the "when it's ready part." Is that once the levels have come down and I have done another partial water change?

[glampka]

You can put the CUC crew in after the tank cycles-that is, the ammonia & nitrites return to 0.
If your live rock doesn't have any coralline on it, get a piece from somewhere or a snail/crab shell that has some & scratch at the coralline while the rock/shell is in the tank. That will seed the tank with spores.
Don't start adding any additives until the cycle is complete & you start adding fish/corals. You're only going to screw up your water parameters because you don't have anything in there that will be using things up.

[pthornton]

Gary, thanks for the tips. I would assume since the rock has been cured for 60-90 days at the dealer it has coralline on it, if not I guess I will track some down. Is that little amount enough to seed the tank? And out of curiosity, how long will that take to cycle ... if I have to seed the tank?

[cappy290]

You should be fine once your levels all come down to zero. Once everything is at zero I would say its pretty safe to start adding live stock in at slow pace.. Good luck with the tank and show some pics of the tank

[emccullough1]

If you are still having the trmp swings Try unpluging one thing ( ie pumps ,lights, anything else )and watch the temp that day and so on till you find the problem. I found two problems this way.
1 light was rasing temp , my fix was to add a second piese of glass with spacers 3/4" over the other and put light on it and blow fan at tank. The fan blowing the heat fron in between the glass before it gets to the second piese. MY T5's said you must have glass under it in manual.
2 was a pump I had from a pond setup and had tryed to use it had good flow but maid to much heat doing it. Fix get different pump

[glampka]

You'll know if the rock has coralline on it - pick a piece that has the telltale pink/deep red color to it. It doesn't take much to seed the tank. If you end up having to seed the tank, just scratch it a couple times, that will suffice.

[SweeTang22]

in your first post you said you have 2 heaters. what is the wattage on these heaters. i would do only one 300 watt heater and plug it in when you need it. having more then 1 heater is not needed!! t5's dont make too much heat but will still play a small role. i would check your levels for about 3 weeks. its hard to say, sometimes they cycle in 1 week and sometime they cycle in 5 weeks.

[pthornton]

Thanks for the help.

I have two 200w heaters, which I purchased on the recommendation of our local marine store. I have them both set at 70, but the temp inside is still hovering around 80 +/-.

I put 75 lbs of fiji live rock (cured) in the tank last night along with 80 lbs of live sand. Should I run the lights - the t5s and actinics - one or the other - neither? And since I am asking 1001 questions, when should the algae bloom start to appear? Can I expedite the process?

Thanks again in advance for everyone's comments and advice - You have all been very helpful!