Brown Algae in my Cycling Salt Water Aquarium… HELP!?
I have brown Algae in my salt water aquarium thats cycling (been over a month)… I dont wanna clean the tank and do water change because of its ‘cycling’, how do I get rid of it? Currently my tank dosn’t have much… 2 clowns…2 small blue damsels…some bleached coral… live rock….live sand…2 fans…weak flouresent light (my halide light is on its way)… and I have a wet/dry trickle filter. My tank is 75 gallons. I want coral/reef/anemones in the near future!
I dont have a protein skimmer hooked up yet… should there be one(1 month old tank)?
That algae is called diatoms. They usually go away on their own after cycling is complete.
If you have at least a pound of rock per gallon of water, then you do not need bio balls in the trickle filter. If you want to get rid of the bio balls remove about 20% of them every 2 weeks till their gone.
The reason for this is that with bio balls and plenty of live you will have way more aerobic bacteria than anaerobic bacteria, which leads to high nitrates. if you do not have enough live rock then leave the balls till you do.
Yes you need a skimmer. A skimmer will help remove excess proteins that water changes alone are not able to keep up with. If You plan on getting coral get a good one. Also look into getting an RODI system. Corals will be tough to keep without RODI water. Tap water is usually loaded with excess proteins already and will make your water changes much less effective.
You can do a water change while cycling a tank. Just make sure the water has ZERO chlorine in it and the temp matches your tanks. It will also help keep the fish from dying during the cycling .
its part of the cycling process, we all had to endure this algae problem. Don’t add any more livestock to your tank or it could take years to stabilize. Yeah you need a protein skimmer if the tank is over 20 gallons. Bleached coral is probably a bad idea, algae problem area for future. If green hair algae starts growing then get a phosphate reactor and fill it with rowaphos but the brown algae is nothing to worry about and will be gone in a month
January 10th, 2010 at 7:15 amReferences :
The brown algae is normal as it develops towards the end of your cycle when your nitrates develop. I would test your water as you may be done cycling. If so, then you can add a protein skimmer, but not until then. In general you do not want to add a protein skimmer while the tank is cycling, as it will pull out the organic matter which will cycle the tank.
January 10th, 2010 at 7:49 amReferences :
I learned so much for coral reef on
http://www.thesea.org
This site is full of useful info
Thanks
January 10th, 2010 at 8:25 amReferences :
If you have a reef tank then make sure you use Live Marine Phytoplankton. The best place to get it is from http://www.phytolabsb2.com
January 10th, 2010 at 8:32 amReferences :
That algae is called diatoms. They usually go away on their own after cycling is complete.
January 10th, 2010 at 9:21 amIf you have at least a pound of rock per gallon of water, then you do not need bio balls in the trickle filter. If you want to get rid of the bio balls remove about 20% of them every 2 weeks till their gone.
The reason for this is that with bio balls and plenty of live you will have way more aerobic bacteria than anaerobic bacteria, which leads to high nitrates. if you do not have enough live rock then leave the balls till you do.
Yes you need a skimmer. A skimmer will help remove excess proteins that water changes alone are not able to keep up with. If You plan on getting coral get a good one. Also look into getting an RODI system. Corals will be tough to keep without RODI water. Tap water is usually loaded with excess proteins already and will make your water changes much less effective.
You can do a water change while cycling a tank. Just make sure the water has ZERO chlorine in it and the temp matches your tanks. It will also help keep the fish from dying during the cycling .
References :
15 yrs Reef Keeping