Newbie - Cycle Question

[cherylm123]

Hello, I recently purchased a used 35 gallon saltwater cube from a guy along with rock/filter/skimmer/other accessories. I added water 10/30, added two damsels 11/2. I currently have brown diatoms on the rock (11/11) - maybe stage 4 pre-Cyanobacteria? Unless I'm past that already to algae? I'll add some pics when I can. I'm also seeing a lot of bubbles that I think are from the Hydor Slim Skim Nano that I have going. It's currently in the tank, not the sump due to size constraints. Any input on how to set up the sump to make it work? I appreciate any advice!

 

[cherylm123]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cherylm123]

Not the best photo but there are small strands of algae now. The bubbles (presumably from the skimmer) are attaching to the strands and flowing back and forth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cherylm123]

 

[cherylm123]

 

[hhaase]

Nothing really looking terribly abnormal, though addressing any algae nutrient source at this point will be a good idea. Always easy to treat algae as early (or before) a breakout as possible.

Before going after equipment setup, what are your water parameters?
At bare minimum at this point you should be testing/measuring temperature, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, PH, and salinity/specific gravity. Eventually you can probably phase out the nitrites testing, but the rest will be part of your normal test and maintenance.

I'd recommend maybe moving this into the "new to the hobby" forum. This one is more for forum/website specific feedback and questions.
(Edit: This thread was originally in the 'questions and feedback' forum. Thank you for moving it)

 

[MudandSkids]

Looks brown algae to me, it's relatively harmless to your tank and is actually good in lots of cases like providing nutrients for fish! It's relatively common in new tanks too so don't freak out. Maybe you're feeding your damsels too much and the excess food is becoming algae. Still keep an eye on it though, recently I cleaned out the brown algae in my 55 gal. saltwater tank and everything is doing good.

 

[cherylm123]

I'd recommend maybe moving this into the "new to the hobby" forum. This one is more for forum/website specific feedback and questions.



Thank you! Lots of great info. I'm learning to navigate the app and glad you mentioned the newbie forum.