2 Weeks into cycle - picture & question

[crichard6069]

Hmmm... I'm two weeks into my cycle and I have the "normal" brown algae bloom that happens (scientific name, hey?)... however, on my previous saltwater tank (a few years back) I don't quite remember this part being like this. The brown algae has grown into long string-like hairs.. should I be scrubbing the rocks clean of this stuff? Or will it die off on its own after the cycle? If so, how should I scrub it? Pull the rocks out or leave them in the tank?

Second question - I have some green "grass" type stuff growing.. I've never seen it before but it seems to be growing quickly. Should I scrub this off or just wait until I get my "clean-up crew"?

Pictures will be attached!

Thanks...

 

[chaffey]

those are just algea, later when you add clean up crews/tangs, those algea will be gone.

You need to add a little water flow to get rid of the algea on the sand.

 

[Nano Chris]

I wouldn't add a tang in that tank, too small of a tank for it.

 

[everl0ng]

24g, WAY too small for a tang.

 

[drummereef]

Yeah, tangs are out for a 24g. Let the diatoms and green hair algae cycle as normal. They will go away on their own. Just make sure you keep testing and once your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are zero it's safe to add an appropriate cleanup crew. I would add a couple nassarius and either astrea or turbos for the hair algae. Looking good so far. Are you using RO/DI water?

 

[CyboRob]

Haha looks just like mine does (17 days today) minus the green grass.

 

[elegance coral]

I will be out numbered on this and I'm not trying to start an argument. This is just my opinion.
I don't believe that "just let it go" is good advice. The time for a hobbyist to start keeping his/he tank clean is day one. I don't believe that you should ever let an algae bloom go. The slime and other algae in your pic can choke out valuable life on your rocks. I think you should clean as much of it off as you can and try to keep it clean. I believe you and your tank will be much better off for it. just my 2 cents. Good luck.

 

[CyboRob]

Elegance coral can you give advice on the cleaning process then?

As asked by crichard6069, I would like to know also.

Thanks
Rob

 

[Snowboarda42]

You can take the LR out and scrub it with a stiff brush, but if your tank is still cycling, its pointless. The algae will spread back like crazy.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of Nassaruis snails, or hermits. I have a bunch of each in my tank and they did very little as far as denting the algae. I added 8 Turbos (I'm hoping to end up with 4) and in about 5 days all the algae was 96% gone.

What are your params for the tank right now?

 

[elegance coral]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9885447#post9885447 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CyboRob
Elegance coral can you give advice on the cleaning process then?

As asked by crichard6069, I would like to know also.

Thanks
Rob

There are many ways to clean the rock. The easiest ( if you dont want to remove the rocks) is to use a siphon hose. If you don't want to do a water change you can cut one leg off an old pair of leans and tie a knot in one end. Then put it in a bucket and put the hose in the other end held on with a rubber band. Siphon the nastyness off the rocks and then put the water back in the tank, or forget the jeans and make up fresh salt water to put back. If there are any bad spots that wont suck off the rocks you can use a tooth brush with the hose next to it.

 

[crichard6069]

Looking good so far. Are you using RO/DI water?

For the time being I'm using distilled water. I can get it at the local supermarket for $0.65 a gallon. Unfortunately all of my money has been tied up in the tank it self.. at some point I'll convince the wife to let me get an RO/DI Unit. From what I've read though, distilled is pretty much the same (some have said it's even better because it's water in it's purest form).

And yes - I wasn't planning a tang. About 5 years ago I had a 150g FOWLR - that had a couple of tanks. My stocking plan for the 24g is a couple of gobies, maybe a clown. My focus this go around is corals. I do have a neon cleaner goby in the basement sitting in a QT though. I figured I can be QTing a fish while I'm cycling.

Thanks for all of the inputs on the algae. I didn't remember it being this extreme, so I thought I'd ask.

One thing I discovered last night while checking my water.. I have a red sea hydrometer which was reading 1.024. I bought a new hydrometer for my QT (didn't want to mix the two since I'm sure I'll have to medicate at some point) and the new hydrometer told me my tank was at 1.029.

Red Sea hydrometer: 1.024
Instant Ocean Hydrometer: 1.029.

<sigh>... IF the instant ocean one is correct, that means the first two weeks of my cycle have been with extremely high salinity.. perhaps this has something to do with the algae being far worse than I remember? Thoughts on the hydrometer?

 

[REHEM]

I can't tell from the picture, but it doesn't look like you have ANY circulation/flow in your tank? (Sorry if I'm wrong) If you added a single powerhead (at the least), the "red slime stringy stuff" will be gone quick.

 

[Bmgrocks]

did u season the new one?

letting salt water sit in the Hydrometer for 48hrs..then retest
The Meter has to be seasoned to accurately measure the salinity

 

[crichard6069]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9886567#post9886567 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bmgrocks
did u season the new one?

letting salt water sit in the Hydrometer for 48hrs..then retest
The Meter has to be seasoned to accurately measure the salinity

I never knew that... I'll do that today. Thanks!

 

[crichard6069]

Just a quick update.. I've had saltwater sitting in the hydrometer for about 24 hours now. After 12 hours the hydrometer had gone from 1.027 all the way down to 1.024.. amazing. Never heard of seasoning it before. It's actually kind of scary because the package said nothing about having to do that.