Tank Algae Control ...?

[Uncle Elroy]

:sad2:

Hello,
Im a new member, just getting into the art of saltwater tanks... at the current moment i own 15 gallon tank... nothing special...so far i only have sand on the bottom, with salt water cycling for over 12 days and now im begging to grow algae.... not a lot..., but i did notice some on the sand.
For filtration, im running a AquaFin 20 pump, with a standard mesh filter, behind the mesh filter im using a product called Chemi-Pure ( filterbag ).... so far thats about it.... I been planing on buying a small power head, one capable of pumping 150+ gallons per hour.

My question is ...should i buy live rock now for the tank, and introduce sea snails, and or crab so eat the algae...? May even a little fish? Also whats a decent cheap pump for a tank that size....

( my goals are to start to grow coral and reef, in this small tank to transfer to a 100gallon when i move to a larger home ) ...mostly this tank is for practice, but still want to succeeded in building a stable environment.

 

[Jasontkd]

First of all, welcome. Sand and saltwater won't do a whole lot, and if that is all there is in you tank, you really aren't ready to add any livestock.

As a good baseline, yes, you should add live rock. Maybe 15 - 20 lbs.

What type of water did you use for your saltwater? Premixed, water and salt mix, etc.? If you mixed your own, what is your salinity and temperature, and did you use RODI water?

Depending on what type of algae you have growing, it may or may not be a bad thing. Algae is what helps filter your water and populate the tank with good bacteria.

 

[Uncle Elroy]

the water was bought by gallon, and at a local aquarium shop... i believe it was premixed and cycled before sale. i figured i would introduce live-rock aswell. i heard it helps with the filtration..., is that correct..?

 

[wisnia99]

the water was bought by gallon, and at a local aquarium shop... i believe it was premixed and cycled before sale. i figured i would introduce live-rock aswell. i heard it helps with the filtration..., is that correct..?

Yes LR will help you with the Nitrogen Cycle I would recommend looking trough New to the Hobby section of the forum http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=104

 

[Uncle Elroy]

thank you to the both of you, very pleased with the info in this forum!

 

[Uncle Elroy]

thank you to the both of you, very pleased with the info in this forum!

 

[Uncle Elroy]

Ok guys heres a update....

So i got my water tested over a week ago, and everything was in the correct ratios... so i added some live rock... nothing to fancy, just enough to do the job ( 9.8 lbs : 10gal ). let that cycle for a week, and noticed how clear the water was... still had some algae ...but its ok, still bothers me i have algae on the sand....

so today i got the water test again, and once again i was doing great!..so i bought some live stock.....

For my Algae control i added one Mexican Turbo snail, and for general fish, 2 chromes...The Snail is already cleaning the tank!! its funny watching hime work..while my fish are just swimming around....

should i add a wave make or a powerhead... just so the fish have more current ..?

 

[dixiedog]

The algae on the sand may be just diatoms, which bloom and then soon die out in every new tank.

Yes, definitely get yourself a powerhead. A stronger one than you think you need.

Good luck!

 

[Uncle Elroy]

Whats a safe tempature for the tank....also rules on light cycling with livestock..?

 

[ange062]

Target 77-78 for an optimal temp, but anywhere between 72-82 will work. Consistency is the key here, you want your daily temp variation to be minimal.

And what do you mean by light cycling, light acclimation? Yes, with stronger lighting this is definitely required or you will bleach our your new photosynthetic adds. Lower power lights you likely don't need to do this. If you mean photoperiod then 8-hrs is a good time for "lights on".

 

[Uncle Elroy]

Thank you very much, currently im running around 78-79 degrees F... as for light, im on for 9hours...then the nights im off... i just order blue LED's..i was going to run with my UV light cycle... and maybe 2 or 3 purple for the night...??

and thoughts on that set-up..?

 

[TundraGuy]

Not trying to sound like a hater but let’s start with
“i believe it was premixed and cycled before sale.”
Premixed is normally a good idea. But there is no such thing as “cycled water” if a fish store sells you water that is from a tank that has live stock in it then they are ripping you off. There are no free floating bacterium in water that will add in cycling your tank.
Yes add live rock now! The sooner the better. Live rock comes from the ocean and is shipped in a process that kills a lot of what is living on it. By “curing it” you’re allowing the bad to die and cultivating the good stuff.
If you have nothing producing bad stuff in your tank then your water will always test perfect. Luckily fresh live rock will produce the nasty’s to take you well into a cycle.
“The algae on the sand may be just diatoms, which bloom and then soon die out in every new tank.” This is likely but not all new tanks go through a diatom bloom. In fact most tanks that cycle without lighting will cycle without any funky algae blooms. (this is a old school trick to cycling a tank faster and without ever having to fight algae). They also tend to cycle faster than tanks with lighting running on normal cycles. So let me ask you this are you running your lights? If you are what kind of lights are you running? How long are you running them for? Is there any other light shining into/on the tank if so can we limit this light?
Uncle your on the right path. In the beginning of anybodys first reef the will make the same classic “opps”. Can we get a FTS (full tank shot)? I want to see what your working with so we can give you’re the pointers to led you in the right direction.

 

[Uncle Elroy]

SO i installed my moonlight, and i noticed my fish are still VERY active ... is that normal...?

 

[troyman]

i hate lfs most of them are more dangerous than any good the one upstate ny sells dead sps coral swearing its alive go figure alwyas seek information on here and internet to help you out

 

[Uncle Elroy]

Well i figured it out.. turns out i had too many of them, im using less and the fish are back in their hiding place at night...doing what ever it is they do in there.