My Bigger Piece of the Reef (LotsOPics)

Well... I got home last night and the brown algae is 50 times worse. It is everywhere... even on the sand. Is there anything I can do... or should do? Should I put in a clean up crew?

I tested my topoff and stored salt water and they tested zero for phosphates. So they are leaching from inside the tank. I put some marco rocks in a gallon of salt water and I will test it tonight... to see if they are coming from the rocks.
 
I would let it run its course, swapping out carbon and GFO on a weekly basis. Putting animals in won't help the problem go away. It sounds like the normal cycle to me.
 
Thank you guys. I am leaving Sunday for a little 3 day vacation at the beach. I'll leave the lights off while I'm gone and assess the problem upon my return.
 
Here's how bad it's gotten in just 2 days..
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100_1562.jpg


Here's my 4 year old after completing her first song on Guitar Hero... Hit Me With Your Best Shot...
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yes. no sweat. this is why you let your system cycle and run before putting in any animals. Sometimes people will put in a couple of hardy fish. I ran mine for a good 3 months or so with just a few chromis in it to let it fully cycle and allow the bacteria to set up camp. You may get a hair algae outbreak and be tempted to put in anmals to "solve" that, but I would recommend letting it run its course. If you are interested in keeping tangs, then you might add one of those in two or three weeks depending on how the cycle goes, but the biggest mistake we make in this hobby is jumping the gun.

You have to let the cycle do its thing, and the fauna develop before putting in animals that use the fauna to supplement their diet. This means NO wrasses, pipe fish, sea horses, crabs, mandarins, etc. for many months. That way your pods can establish a foothold and withstand the predation.

If you have a refugium (sorry, no memory) then that will go a long way to create a predator free zone for their continued propagation. Fuges do not really contribute much to nutrient export (although we like to believe they do), but they do add a safe zone that has some value to beaten fish and certain fauna/pods that need a safe place to propagate.

Your poor daughter is going to grow up thinking that is a normal size TV. :lol:
 
Thanks... I guess my main concern was that it would just keep growing and growing. I'll be patient. Not this weekend but, next... I'm going to put some pods and worms from my other tank's refugium in it... and see how that goes. I'm kinda hoping that Barrier will have a sale with those 99 cent b/g chromis' pretty soon.

I will be putting a fuge on this system but that is a month away at least.

By the time she's old enough... people will have 50 inch plasmas in their SUV's.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11766999#post11766999 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kannin
All three lights on...
100_1523.jpg
Click to expand...

the middle light seem differnt colour & is not blend with left & right. are you doing that on purpose??
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11849756#post11849756 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kannin
Thjank you for putting my mind at ease. I'm at work and they don't let me have rum here so, again... thank you.
Click to expand...

Man..you need a new job! :eek1:

It's no biggie, like I said before...it'll get worse before it gets better!

Why do I feel like I'm talking to my wife? :rolleyes:
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11850897#post11850897 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Johan Susanto
the middle light seem differnt colour & is not blend with left & right. are you doing that on purpose??
Click to expand...

The fixture came with the tank (used) and the center light is a 10k while the outside bulbs are 14 k. I think when I replace them... I will use 3 14k bulbs. I am also going to supplement with t-5's
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11851397#post11851397 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mrcrab
Man..you need a new job! :eek1:

It's no biggie, like I said before...it'll get worse before it gets better!

Why do I feel like I'm talking to my wife? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Yeah... rum tester positions are hard to come by. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to my wife too.
 
Well... I put some left over marco rocks in a bucket of new salt water, this morning...
100_1564.jpg

I just did a phosphate test on the water... and the rocks are definately the source of the high phosphates. The test was even higher than what the water in the tank was reading.

I don't know if this is typical or if it is because I didn't cure them long enough.
 
what kind of rocks were they, the dry rocks? Just curious, because I just ordered 50 pounds of the dry Tonga shelf, and if they're creating high phosphate levels, that's good to know in advance!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11852897#post11852897 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kannin
I think this is my favorite picture so far...
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Yeah, and perfect for your kids too. With that rock in the tank you are going to have an extended cycle. Not sure I understand that from dead rock, but I would guess you are going to have a wicked cycle, HA etc.

What I would do is lights out, carbon, GFO, and water changes until you get a zero PO4 reading. It may take more than a month.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11854527#post11854527 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnarowe
Not sure I understand that from dead rock, but I would guess you are going to have a wicked cycle, HA etc.

What I would do is lights out, carbon, GFO, and water changes until you get a zero PO4 reading. It may take more than a month.
Click to expand...

Oh Joy!!!

Patience young grasshopper...patience.

I bet the wife really regrets getting you that first tank now! :lol:
 
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