Browning Sand

[kimmy13x]

apologies in advance: forgive me if i ask a silly question i'm still a real newbie. half is curious asking and half is concerned.

is this browning normal? i've heard about the diatom bloom thing (is it that or some kind of algae?) and believe this is a good sign but it's only on one side of my tank. is that normal or? my tank has only been up since feb 22 and i thought the bloom would take longer?

i just checked my water

pH 8.2
Ca 380 ppm
KH 12 dKH (this is alkalinity right?)
PO4 .50 ppm
NH4 .50? ppm
NO2 0 ppm
NO3 0 ppm

i still have a long time to go according to that if i am correct? is there anything else i should be doing or that i should know? i've just been letting it do it's thing topping off when needed. i'm not sure if i should be feeding fish food to help the ammonia? any advice?

thanks for reading have a great day

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[thegrun]

You should expect diatom and algae blooms for the first few months. Did you initially add anything as an ammonia source? If not you are going to need to add something to kick start the cycle. Adding pure ammonia to raise the ammonia level to about 2ppm is the fastest, but you can add a dead raw shrimp or a daily pinch of dry fish food.

 

[kimmy13x]

sounds good i think i will do the fish food; i was under the assumption that the live sand and rock would be sufficient


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[ramseynb]

sounds good i think i will do the fish food; i was under the assumption that the live sand and rock would be sufficient


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Live ROCK would be enough typically because there is some die off which will create an ammonia spike. Personally, I use Dr. Tim's ammonia to spike my tank and get the cycle started. I prefer this over fish food or the raw shrimp method because I'm not adding detritus in my tank right off the bat. It's pretty cheap too.

 

[homer1475]

Typical diatom outbreak in a new setup. It's often caused by the silicates in new sand. It will eventually burn itself out in a couple weeks. Nothing to be worried over. As far as only on one side of the tank, does that one side see a little bit of natural sun through out the day?

While I would agree that die off in live rock would be enough to fuel the cycle, but that does not look anything like live rock. Now before we argue semantics here, live rock to me has life on it, not just full of nitrifying bacteria.

 

[mcgyvr]

The fact that you have diatoms shows that the tank is cycling or has cycled already.... Likely is cycling but I don't know if that rock was live or not..
Really no need to add ammonia. Just wait more..
You certainly can add some or just some food but you don't "need" to.

Your phosphate level is a bit concerning already..

But yes diatoms are totally normal..

 

[crawlerman]

I agree on the phosphates, not sure how they got that high already. Are you using tap water or RODI? If you are buying RODI from a store, check the phosphate levels. Some LFS change filters less often than they should.

 

[kimmy13x]

i will look into the ammonia options!

as for seeing more sun? no it is sat against a blacked out window so no sun on either side.

the big rock was sold to me as "œlive rock" i've seen little critters in there so i wasn't really questioning it. what makes it seem like it isn't?
(i also have the dead bleached birds nests or whatever there just for decorative means; me acquiring those was a whole other issue with a LFS that we believe took advantage of us being newbies boo for mean people)

as for the phosphates what should i do about that? no water changes until the nitrates are up right? i will test my RODI water right now


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[kimmy13x]

i get my RODI water from a LFS that claims is to be 9 stage RODI


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[kimmy13x]

ha seems you were right! my RO water definitely isn't 0ppm for its phosphates. i'd say .25ppm but i also took my cycling tanks levels right now too and the RODI water is only barely lighter in color than the tank water.

what should be my next move?


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[mcgyvr]

what should be my next move?

Find a new LFS as they suck..
I'd demand a refund if you are sure their water is showing .25ppm of phosphate.. Thats crap...

That rock you purchased.. Was it wet when you got it and was it for the most part placed into a tank within 24 hours after removing it from the water where it sat at the LFS? Or was it allowed to dry?

IMO all you probably need to do is find a new source of water...

 

[kimmy13x]

the rock was wet when purchases and placed in the water within 24 hrs

Thanks for the advice I will certainly do something about this issue with their water! I'm going to be using this forum a lot more now (hopefully i don't get too annoying) ; but i'm very limited with stores around me and a lot just seem to want to take our money without caring about anything else; i do all the research i can but getting advice from people here seems to be the most beneficial thing.


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[mako61]

I would consider getting a small RODI system. I think they are money well spent when it comes to keeping a tank.

 

[kimmy13x]

i'm definitely considering that


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[crawlerman]

When you consider the time, money for water, gas for driving and quality of the water, the RODI filter will pay for itself rather fast.