Overall dirty tank???

[Arf82]

Hi, I'm new to marine and having some issues with diatom bloom, hundreds of little white flea like things and tons of little bits floating around the tank making the water look dirty!!!!
The tank is 4 weeks old with a hermit crab and a fire shrimp. I have live sand and 10kg live rock. Any help would be great... Cheers.

 

[billdogg]

Welcome to the obsession!

Have you read the stickies at the top of this page? That would be a great place to start if you haven't yet.

Diatoms are a normal part of any new tank, and they will continue to come and go over the years. The little white things are probably pods of one sort or another, and good.

If you would describe your tank setup - filtration, lighting, sump?, basic water parameters (Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium, Phosphate, and salinity) - the more info the better - we can help to get you pointed in the right direction.

hth

 

[Arf82]

Thanks for the reply, I have a Aquanano 60 100litre, it's pretty much standard as it came in the box. I have live sand and 10kg of live rock.
Salinity is reading on a hydrometer at 1.022, which I believe is a little low?. I'm waiting for a refractometer to be delivered to check more accurately. Ammonia, and nitrites are where they should be nitrates are 10ppm. Ph is a little low also I think at around 7.8. I bought the water ready mixed from my lfs. I've bought a ro/di unit and instant ocean to make my own water, hopefully closer salinity level to 1.026? I'm not to sure how to check the others that you mentioned?

 

[joshua_00030]

When you set up your tank how long did you allow it to cycle before adding your invertebrates? Many new experienced reefers will allow these rocks and sand to sit by themselves for over a month. This is because the live sand and rocks experience a lot of die off, making your tank full of excess nutrients and waste.

100 liters shouldn't take much longer to cycle(at least through its 1st stage), and getting pre-mixed water will help a lot if your lfs also uses RO water. If your tank is your avatar it looks fine to me, but if the walls are covered in the green/brown diatoms you can wipe those off then perform a water change every day or so to help make it look clean.

Honestly as Billdogg said these are normal and you can't really avoid them. Just try and keep your rocks and tank semi clean. If you let the diatoms run free it becomes a nightmare to clean up when the bloom is over. And like you finished off saying, use your water changes to get your salinity up a little.

 

[Arf82]

Thank you Joshua. My tank was set up for a week before I added my invertebrates. I did regular water tests and im sure it had gone through a cycle,
The picture is before the diatoms!!
One other question please my crap poops loads all over the place is there any cuc member that will clean this up and help with the diatoms on the sand and rocks? And is it ok to leave the poop in there?? Thanks again.