Diatom bloom ?

[Ron Cote]

I have a two week old 120g LR tank. No fish yet, but a reasonable number of criters. My amonia, Nitriite and Ntrate numbers are excellent. My Ph, 4 days ago was 8.2, and now it is abt 8.4 and 8.5.
The substrate (DSB) in the tank this morning is turning a brownish-green. The glass on the tank is starting to show some green algae.

Questions: Does this sound like I should do a water change?
Do I really do nothing and just let the tank run its course?

Thanks

 

[HaleMoana]

I am interested to see this answer too. My tank is 96 hours into cycle and my water is showing signs of green too. I have been told to let it run it's course, but I am getting nervous.

My ammonia hasn't spiked yet.

 

[sps1-2-b]

Welcome to saltwater. No worries, sounds like the diatom stage. Let it run its course.

 

[HaleMoana]

Not tryying to jack this thread, but this "diatom stage" is even normal before an ammonia spike?

 

[Michael]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13125576#post13125576 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HaleMoana
Not tryying to jack this thread, but this "diatom stage" is even normal before an ammonia spike?

are you running all your lights for long periods?

 

[Ron Cote]

Feel free to ask any additional questions as long as it is consistant with the intent of the original question(s). Not a problem.

 

[Michael]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13125607#post13125607 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ron Cote
Feel free to ask any additional questions as long as it is consistant with the intent of the original question(s). Not a problem.

same question to you ron, and what critters do you have after 2 weeks?

 

[Ron Cote]

I'm running a T5 system. 4 of the 8 lights had been running for abt 4 hrs a day for the past 12 days. Two days ago I added a number of recommend snails and crabs. At that point I turned on all 8 - 56W lights to 12 hours.

With the occuring bloom I will cut the lights down to 4 hrs a day until the bloom clears up.

thanks/Ron

 

[crvz]

Water changes are an excellent idea and should be done regularly (every 2 weeks at ~10% or so). What you're experiencing is just part of the initial tank cycle, the diatoms have a limited food supply in the tank in almost all cases (silica) and will die off in a number of weeks.

 

[Michael]

ok ron, firstly a warm welcome to RC secondly, slow down mate, theres no problem having the lights on its nice to see things happening but 2-3 hrs a day max at this point may slow down the green algae a bit, your going to get brown algae without doubt, it will cover everthing in your tank the rocks and sand and glass, and its all part of the cycle, i can see you have been keeping fish for 20 years so i assume you have read and studied a bit about this hobby before diving straight in, however id suggest this, do not add anymore live stock untill you have seen your ammonia levels rise and drop and be at 0 for several days, then do awater change to dilute the nitrate and then add some cuc, also even with 20 years experience ron its worth looking at the top of the newbie forum or have a look at capn-hyliners red house, there are loads of links to help us all, good luck rob, welcome to the salt world

 

[HaleMoana]

No lights at all. I used RO water too

 

[Michael]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13125691#post13125691 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HaleMoana
No lights at all. I used RO water too

all part of the cycle, some tanks react differently im sure, but all will get the brown crap eventually, by the way do you use shop bought ro, or your own ro, or ro-di

 

[HaleMoana]

My own RO/DI from Melev's Reef. TDS meter says 000.

Should I manually trigger my ammonia with a shrimp cocktail or continue to wait? Very little to no die off from my LR yet.

 

[Michael]

here we are guys have alook a waterkeepers guides

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1031074

 

[Michael]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13125737#post13125737 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HaleMoana
My own RO/DI from Melev's Reef. TDS meter says 000.

Should I manually trigger my ammonia with a shrimp cocktail or continue to wait? Very little to no die off from my LR yet.

i wouldnt use shrimp myself, some do, personally id just let it be, it will cycle, nothing good happens fast in marine aquaria

 

[HaleMoana]

Thanks for the link... I am still learning about this site. Very informative.

I am just nervous that my LR is already cured and there won't be any die off to trigger the NH3 spike. I bought it from Live Aquaria.

 

[swilliamson]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13125888#post13125888 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HaleMoana
Thanks for the link... I am still learning about this site. Very informative.

I am just nervous that my LR is already cured and there won't be any die off to trigger the NH3 spike. I bought it from Live Aquaria.

If you dose anything, you will accelerate it but you might make more trouble for yourself in the long run. Your spikes could be much higher and you'll likely spend more time trying to get your nitrates back down than you save by accelerating the process. Even if you picked up your LR at will-call at Live Aquaria, it was out of the water long enough for things to die. If it was shipped to you, you will get all the ammonia you need from the die-off.

Give it a few more days. As the saying goes, nothing good happens fast in aquaria. Budget 30 days to cycling and then you can be pleasantly surprised if/when it happens early. (Unless it's a cold water tank. One cold water biotope tank took 5 months to cycle. Check it out at oregonreef.com. The strawberry anemone are gorgeous.)

If it still isn't cycling, try adding a cup or so of live sand from a friend's tank or local LFS. Another approach is to place a hang-on-tank, sponge, or canister filter on a friend's tank for a couple weeks (or even just dropping a filter sponge in his sump) then bring it back to your tank. Assuming you trust the sources, both methods are better than dosing shrimp IMO.

Good luck!

~ Seth