My 70gal almost-cube rimless tank (Soon to be SPS Dominated)

[shandy_say]

i think you may wanta vacuum that sandbed

In time. Still cycling the tank.

 

[shandy_say]

Tank is on the 6th week of cycling and encountered some problems:

1. Ballast of halides gave out. Dunno why. Will disassemble it tonight and bring it to the supplier for repair or replacement. For the meantime he will provide a service unit until he gets the ballast fixed.

2. Water became a bit cloudy. I am not sure why but there has been some powdery white substance growing all over the rocks and substrates. Not really sure what it is and couldn't get a good picture of it. Might be causing the cloudiness in the water column. What do you guys think? Should I just leave it be since its still cycling anyway or should I add some filter socks to remove those floating debris?

 

[flying_dutchman]

I'm sorry if I missed it but did you "cook" the rock?

 

[shandy_say]

Well "cooked" all of LR under the sun for about 2 weeks before I used it. So im sure the white stuff aren't die-offs. I read somewhere that its also a form of cyano but Im really not sure.

 

[flying_dutchman]

Sorry, It's really annoying that's called "cooking". It is basically dark curing removing phospates, algae(the coralline will grow back) and aiptasia. There are a lot of threads about this.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=437342

 

[shandy_say]

Oh I see. Well in that case I didnt do that. I just washed all the rocks i used in tap water and just left it to dry under the sun for about 2 weeks before putting them in the tank and sump.

Anyway, I ran the skimmer about an hour last night and it took out a whole lot of dirt. Water cleared up but Im not yet sure how clear it is cause i haven't got any lights as of now due to the burned out ballast. Still getting that fixed later. But based on my research the powdery white substance growing on the rocks and sand is called a calothrix cyano algae. Its either that or algae going sexual that caused the hazy water. But everything looks better now. Nitrates still at 40 though.

 

[minhvu]

U haven't been running your skimmer?

 

[shandy_say]

Nope. No skimmer during cycling. This is to maximize denitrification capacity of the sand, dsb, and live rocks.

 

[flying_dutchman]

Just some thoughts, pleas correct me if I'm wrong.
More gunk containing phosphates getting trapped in live rock more phosphates in water= more nuisance algae out competing some bacteria in live rock which causes less efficient dinitrification, causing more nitrates, feeding nuisance algae etc etc.

 

[shandy_say]

Im not sure about the nuisance algae out competing some bacteria in the live rock but i don't think that would be the case since nuisance algae typically grows on the rock. Bacteria which you need to build grows inside the rock. But more phosphates definitely means more nuisance algae. This is why im letting all the nuisance algae grow out and die out on its own without any intervention.

 

[shandy_say]

Just some updates....Hair algae growing all over the sand and LR. Cyano also starting to grow. Daitoms have died out already. Water is a bit hazy cause I just cleaned the glass before the pics.

 

[stevedola]

thats more than a normal cycle. I think youve created a haven for nuisance algea.

 

[stevedola]

In time. Still cycling the tank.

i know that eveyones experience is a little different but Ive cycled 6 tanks in my life and never had algea + diatoms like that.

 

[shark007]

time for a sea hare in there to help with the mess.

 

[Flanders]

i know that eveyones experience is a little different but Ive cycled 6 tanks in my life and never had algea + diatoms like that.

+1. I'd start skimming, reduce the photoperiod and start pulling out algae by hand.

 

[EvMiBo]

Love the tank design. The inline frag tank is pretty cool too. The aquascape definitely has the "less is more" feel to it, looks great. Are you using ro/di water? Did you ever take out those shrimp? Like others have said I'd start skimming and probably just turn off the lights until you need them; having the lights on during the cycle is cool because you get to see what's going on in the tank, but it isn't necessary in my opinion and may increase nuisance algae production if anything. I'm going to subscribe and follow along

 

[LISound]

maybe the rock isn't in the best of shape if you're having algae issues like that. but hey, this was how we all cycled our tanks back in the day before all the bacteria etc. with that said, I would add some bacteria LOL.
I'm sure it could work out on it's own, but you need to start up a weekly WC program to get those nutrient levels down, running GFO, or add a bacteria source to help eat up the excess nutrients.

 

[mic209]

thanks for calling it an "ALMOST" cube, lol. Funny when people have a tank thats 36x36x18 and think its a cube.

Cube"¢a hexahedron with six equal squares as faces

 

[shandy_say]

thats more than a normal cycle. I think youve created a haven for nuisance algea.

Hahah! Well waiting for all the nuisance algae to come out. I used the shrimp method in cycling since I didn't use any live rock or live sand when I started the tank. I didn't want any hitchhikers so i dried all the rocks before i used them. I also didn't use any type of bacteria booster so I had to do it the old fashioned way. heheh! Letting the tank cycle for 12 weeks without any intervention from me such as running the skimmer or water changes allows the denitrification base of the system to fully develop. After the 12 weeks will then manually remove the nuisance algae and add CUC for further clean up. Only after then will I slowly add livestocks in the tank.

 

[shandy_say]

+1. I'd start skimming, reduce the photoperiod and start pulling out algae by hand.

Still waiting for the 12 weeks to end before I start doing that! heheh!