Introducing myself, and some problems

A

Argentino

New member
Hello everybody, i'm Agustin from argentina. First of all let me tell you my english it's a little bit rusty. I have a 60 g tank and i'm just starting in the hobby. Perhaps in a few days i will have a few photos.
The tank finished it's cycling about three weeks ago, and immediately i got two dascyllus aruanus and two percula clowns. Things were ok till las week when some diatom algae (i think that's the spelling) exploded and covered the whole tank. Now the water it's all green and cloudy and i`m getting crazy because i don't know what to do and if this is normal... I would love some advice...
Well, hello again to everybody and i hope you can help me...
Agus
PS: sorry if there are spelling mistakes.
 
Hi Agus - I think what you're experiencing is a phytoplankton bloom, and some of the causes include overfeeding, high nutrient level in the water, or something in your water chemistry that's not quite right. It looks like you have a big water change in your future.

But first, where do you get the water for your tank?
 
The algae blooms you are experiencing are totoally normal. Both the diatoms and hair algae will go away in time as the tank finishes cycling and stabilizes. No worries. ;)
 
Thanks, your comments chilled me. I should say that the water tests that i could get here in argentina aren't very reliable. I'm talking about Tetra test laboret... i'm tryng to get salifert tests but is diffcult and expensive. I`m using tap water, and thinking to change to RO water.
I already have a few shots, i will be uploading soon...
agus
 
Tetra brand tests actually aren't horrible. I've used them before and had decent test results. Salifert would be more scientific though. The use of RO water is prefered over tap for a variety of reasons. Don't really know what's in the water in Argentina, but the tap around my area is terrible. If you end up getting an RO, make sure it has a DI stage. That's where you'll get the TDS down to 0. ;)
 
hi wen some one has a algae problum it`s the tapwater! not true. and r. o. d. is allways helpful. no one said test the tap. i uz destilled water to test my test kit. to me i don`t think the tank is ready, for 4 fish yet. i set up a 75 gal. in 2/o7, 4/07 i put a tang in, so i don`t have to feed him. 6/07 i put in a nother fish, a S. picturatus. i condashin my tap with stress coat. I put it in a 1gal. milk jug,and air stone, for 5 to 7 days and water is fine.
 
hello friends! here are my first shots of the tank... This were taken before the bloom... I should say that the stand wasn`t really plannned to hold a sump in it, so i had to fix it... i'm thinking to change it later...
I have installed 7 fluorescent tubes (again, they were not planned for marine tank), a led moonlight, a DIY recirculating skimmer. I've got carib sea aragamax as substrate and a few pounds of aragocrete... i hope you like it
diatardenoche.jpg

panoramica2.jpg

luzdeluna.jpg

atardecer2.jpg

todoenmarcha.jpg



well... that's all folks, i will try to upload some recent pictures of the tank. Any comments are welcomed
agus
 
You wont get too many comments if you look like you know what your doing........ :D

Tank looks great..... If it was me....... I'd put a couple of pieces of live rock to go with the base rock you have...... Just to get it going really nice......
 
Your tank looks good. I would agree with the previous comments. Algae blooms are common with new tanks. Try to use distilled water until you get the RO unit. I would also agree that adding a little cured live rock would help things along faster.

If you do not all ready have a "clean-up crew" (snails, scarlet hermit crabs, etc) I would add them as they will eat the algae. I would hold off adding any new fish until the algae is under control.

Good Luck!
 
Thanks a lot for your comments. Today i went to buy a few litters of RO water and in the laboratory told me that distilled water is better than RO. Is this true? They explained me that since where i live is very difficoult gettin RO/DI water, distilled was better because of the process.... mmmm i have my doubts
 
If getting RO/DI water there is hard then could you just buy your own RO/DI filter and set it up in your home. Also i noticed you said your lights werent ment for marine. Could that be why you might be getting the algae bloom. But i would also like to add i really like your rockwork. The shelves look really nice. Are they man made or natural? Either way they do look nice.
 
RO/DI is better than distilled, but distilled is better than RO. There are other methods for controling algae, if you can't get RO/DI. You need to remove the plant food you are adding to the system and start harvesting the algaes from your tank (removing them). The type of food you feed your fish can contribute to algae problems.
 
Your tank looks good. RO wastes more water than distilling and doesn't give that much better a product. Typically the upfront cost and ongoing energy cost is higher than using an RO unit.
 
Fellows, I must ask something I'm ashamed of... PPM is parts per million??? and how do I compare ppm with mg/l
thanks
agus
 
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