new tank question.

M

mikeyj28

New member
I have had my tank running for a week with just live sand and live rock and im starting to see the sand and some of the rock turning brown...i assume this is a diatom bloom. Is it too early to get a few hermits to clean this up?

and another question i need to add some water to top off the system and in the past i just used RO/DI water to do this. however this tank that i have now is much bigger than the previous if i just add the RO/DI water will this lower my salinity?
 
Yes. Let it become as foul as it needs to be: bacteria will catch up.
If your tank is losing water to evaporation, it is becoming MORE salty. Ro/di is what you add unless you are attempting to raise salinity. If you don't have a refractometer yet, I strongly urge it be your next purchase: read the bit in the stickies on NEW FISH etc; just test your water with it, and it will reassure you about the salinity.
just as a example, my 54 gallon evaporates a reliable gallon a day. If you do not yet have an autotopoff, that should be your second-next purchase. It will keep your salinity from wobbling around. If you do have one, it is perfectly fine, even good, to hook it up during cycling.
 
Thanks Sk8r I do have a refractometer but do not have an auto top off. My aquarium is upstaris and my RO/DI unit is in my basement. I think im losing close to a gallon a day. Thanks again
 
I have another question. I assume as part of the cycle i will see some hair algae on the rock as well I hope? Because i have a very small amount of it which is very short. Is there any good articles on what to expect for the cycle?
 
There are lots of pests that can show up when a tank is new. I would just relax and wait. You can add cleanup animals when the ammonia has been zero for at least a week.
 
Okay so the ammonia has been at zero for a week and i added a small clean up crew, as well as a baseball size clump of chaeto. I scrubbed the live rock with a toothbrush to remove as much hair algae as i could and i also suctioned a lot of it off the sand...
Should I leave the lights off for a few days on the display and just let the light on the fuge with the chaeto run for a few days or continue my normal light cycles?
 
I think either way is fine. Leaving the light off in the display tank might give the Chaetomorpha time to consume some nutrients before any pest algae in the display get going, but the difference should be minor. I'd just do some small (10%) water changes, and start thinking about what to add for the long haul.
 
I have a list of fish that i want to add but i havent really looked into the corals yet.
I know that the hair algae is part of the end of the cycle but as much as i had is quite bothersome. I have had this before in previous tanks but not like this.

All i can do at this point is wait it out i guess. Thanks Bertoni.
 
You may think about adding a GFO reactor to help reduce phosphates - they aren't that expensive. Just a thought. I am about two weeks ahead of you in the cycle. I got a large outbreak of GHA, mostly on the back glass and some in the sand. I added a Phosban 150 with GFO about 10 days ago. I have manually removed all the GHA that I can and it doesn't seem to be coming back. Like you, I am also running chaeto. Not sure if the GFO is helping, or if the GHA just ran its course, but I think I am winning the battle (for now).

By the way, if the algae on your rocks was short, it may be turf algae rather than hair. My hair algae grew to at least 3"-4" long.

Can't tell from your location, are you in GR or Ohio?
 
mgoblue said:
You may think about adding a GFO reactor to help reduce phosphates - they aren't that expensive. Just a thought. I am about two weeks ahead of you in the cycle. I got a large outbreak of GHA, mostly on the back glass and some in the sand. I added a Phosban 150 with GFO about 10 days ago. I have manually removed all the GHA that I can and it doesn't seem to be coming back. Like you, I am also running chaeto. Not sure if the GFO is helping, or if the GHA just ran its course, but I think I am winning the battle (for now).

By the way, if the algae on your rocks was short, it may be turf algae rather than hair. My hair algae grew to at least 3"-4" long.

Can't tell from your location, are you in GR or Ohio?
Click to expand...

I have been thinking about using a GFO reactor but im kinda confused on what media to use and what kind of pump i will need to run it. Im pretty sure its GHA because it grew to about 3-4 inches like yours did. I only got the Chaeto last weekend so I need to wait a few days to see what is going to happen with it. What size tank do you have?

LOL i am in ohio now...but im from GR...and GO BLUE! :)
 
There's no data on the various GFO products, but they seem to reduce phosphate, likely with different costs involved. You could try some of the BRS products. They get generally good reviews.
 
1: you can add hermits now
2: Size does not matter, you still use RO/DI water for all your top off. Evaporation is evaporation.
3: If you want a auto topoff system I reccomend www.autotopoff.com they sell great systems
 
PRDubois said:
1: you can add hermits now (done
2: Size does not matter, you still use RO/DI water for all your top off. Evaporation is evaporation. (still using the RO/DI
3: If you want a auto topoff system I reccomend www.autotopoff.com they sell great systems
Click to expand...
I would love to get an auto top off but for me to run one to my tank would be very difficult. My RO/DI is in the basement and my tank is up stairs and i wouldnt know how to get it all the way up here nor do i want to drill a whole in my floor.
 
You could use a small 5 gallon bucket under your tank with RO water in it, Just use it to top off. When it gets down, just fill the bucket up.
 
I have a Phosban 150 GFO reactor that I run with a Maxijet 1200. The pump is overkill at 295gph, but I plan to add a second reactor to run carbon and run them in series with the one pump. The reactor was like $50, the pump was like $30, and enough media for several months would run you like another $20.

Off topic, but it must be hard to be surrounded by buckeye fans, huh?
 
mgoblue said:
I have a Phosban 150 GFO reactor that I run with a Maxijet 1200. The pump is overkill at 295gph, but I plan to add a second reactor to run carbon and run them in series with the one pump. The reactor was like $50, the pump was like $30, and enough media for several months would run you like another $20.

Off topic, but it must be hard to be surrounded by buckeye fans, huh?
Click to expand...

you know after the last couple of days it seems that the hair algae that i scrapped off with the toothbrush has not grown back and the remaining GHA that i missed is starting to die off a little bit. I think its because of the Chaeto. I think that im going to let it run its course for a few weeks and go from there.

Thank you for the information about the Phosban reactor, I was looking at that same reactor online and at the LFS and thought about getting it. Im glad that it is working for you and believe me if i need one that will be the one i get.

OH YES its very hard being surrounded by buckeye fans! They are ruthless. But hey the good news is that some of the players might be in big trouble for doing some extra activities outside of the school.
 
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