Is this normal for the tank?

[ksmmike]

Hello,
I bought a 32 gallon Bio Cube this past week and put in live rock, live sand
and salt water all purchased from my local fish store. I added the rock, sand and water on Thursday afternoon.

My question is, I keep reading about water cycles, but not sure if what is going on right now is part of the cycle or something is off. There seems to be either algae or some type of bacteria starting to cover the live rock. I do have some snails and a few small hermit crabs that are all over the rocks and glass but what ever it is growing is growing pretty fast. Is this a normal part of the initial cycle or do I have something wrong already?

I do see some tiny critters crawling on the rock if the lights are out and you put a flashlight on them.

I only run the white lights about 7-8 hours a day and the blue lights overlap 3 hours along with the white. The blue lights stay on for 3 hours after the white is off. So in total between from sunrise lights to moonset is 11 hours.

Is there something I need to do before whatever it is that is starting to cover the live rock takes over the tank? Its only 3 days old, I don't want issues from the start.

Any help is most welcome.
Thanks
Mike

 

[PROlife]

do you have a pic, what color is the stuff growing, and what are your readings

 

[lagatbezan]

sounds like diatoms. Its normal on newly setup systems and tends to pass on its own.
do a search here and you can get a lot of good info about it if you want.

 

[ksmmike]

thanks

thanks

Thanks, I'll check it out. It's a brown covering. The snails seem to be enjoying it. The guy at the store told me after I posted this message that it's part of the cycle, but it's always good to have a second or third opinion.

Mike

 

[mcgyvr]

Diatoms usually come first.. (basically a brownish/orangy dusting ).. then green film/hair algae and then sometimes you get cyano next..
All are normal and considered the "ugly stages" of a new tank..
They typically pass on their own given you keep up with proper tank maintenance..

If you started with live sand and rock from your local fish store and set it up right after getting home (and kept that rock/sand wet) then you likely will not have a cycle at all..

But a "cycle" is the process of ammonia rising then turning into nitrites then turning into nitrates and once nitrites and ammonia are zero again your tank is considered cycled.. The ugly stages are what happens after the tank is cycled and is just part of the "maturing" of a tank that can take months.. The ugly stuff can go away in a few weeks to a month or 2.. usually..

 

[ksmmike]

thanks

thanks

Yep,
The brown dusting is already going away. The snails are doing a great job of cleaning the rocks of what the filter doesn't have in it. In looking at other photos, it surely looks like what you suggested.

Thanks for the help
Mike