To all u experts

[Dennis]

Hi Dennis here
Just starting and hoping to keep memories alive of snorkling in the Caribean,and the Great Barrier Reef, Thats what happens in old age.

Went to the local expert ? Bought a 55 gal tank , a Fluval 305 , Seachem Marine salt , mixed well water (we are in the country) to acheive a specific gavity of .023 Heater, water temp 78 , 45lbs live rock. 3 yellow tail damsels . Now waiting for the tank to cycle, this is now 7 days , I test the water daily and amonia is still at 0 . 2days ago I got lots of air bubbles and a severe brown algea bloom . The damsels are bright colour and feeding well. no ammonia spike that was promised. should I be doing something?

[Sxybeemr325]

Welcome on here! Nice to see someone else from Ontario Canada!! I tought I was the only one from Ontario on here!!!

As for your question, maybe you should post it in an actual forum. I'd say wait until your tank cycle. Kick back and relax. I waited over 1 1/2 months before I bought any livestock. As for the rocks, are they cured? or not? i bought half my rocks from my fish store which were supposed to be cured, and the rest from the internet(next day shipping) and i had some die off... I've learned from everyone on here that the key is to be patient. The rest just follows....

[cthegame]

Sometimes it could take a week for you to notice anything. I would recommend taking some sample water to your LFS for another test just in case. A lot of times, test kits are not 100% accurate so its best to get a second reading from a diffrent test kit.

[reeffreak]

It's a good possibility that the cycle went so fast or it cycled instantly since you have no detectible ammonia.Still,patients the key so wait several weeks before adding any new fish.

You didn't mention nitrite and nitrate.What are the test showing for those two?

[Bifferwine]

Hi and welcome! Like others have said, if you used pre-cured live rock, you could skip the ammonia or nitrite stage of the cycle. In any case, I'd still add some more rock, 1 to 2 lbs per gallon is your best bet. This will provide the most bang for your buck as far as biological filtration goes.

Don't worry, that algae bloom will be the first of many . That's totally normal for a new tank. As your tank matures, algae blooms will become less and less frequent.

[kyle]

Originally Posted by Sxybeemr325

Welcome on here! Nice to see someone else from Ontario Canada!! I tought I was the only one from Ontario on here!!!

welcome to the reef denis. I thouht I was the only one from ontario on here. This is alsome maybe someday maybe we all can meet up and all trade corals. lol

[RyanG]

Welcome to the Reef Dennis

[fatman]

Yeah, what Reeffreak and Biffer said sounds good. Or stay with that amount of rock and add a deep sand bed around your rock. Just keep your fish and corals additions small and well spaced apart and you will probably never see a spike in ammonia or nitrite. With out a fully mature deep sand bed though you will always likely accumulate nitrates as live rock is really not to efficient at denitrification, especially the porous rocks such as Caribbean live rock. The heavier denser rocks are much less efficient at converting ammonia to nitrites then nitrate but better at converting nitrates to nitrous gas. That is one reasons why mixed live rock is a better idea, and deep sand beds are an even better idea for denitrification as well as other tank parameter maintenance and trace element maintenance.

[Dennis]

Thanks to all for your response.
Live rock was purchased locally, Fidgi and sold as cured , it was transported quickley and kept damp , rinsed in salt water before placing. How would I know if it "dies off"?

I hear u all patience is key

Interesting comment from Reeffreak re. instant cycling

Nitrite and nitrate levels r showing 0 ppm, but my test kit is entry level, A.P.I. master kit

Algea bloom seems to have subsided & fish r colourfull & feeding well . Thanks again for all responses

[fatman]

Forgot about the air bubbles. Air bubbles if associated with the algae means cyano algae. Brown algae is associated with silica combined with some nutrients that are typically at levels yet to low to promote green algae. Brown algae is actually promoted by some reefer experts as it is preferable over green algae, they actually promote it through adding silica to their tanks. Either way the controls are feed little and do not feed flake foods or pellets. When feeding frozen food, thaw food first and just add particles to tank not the fluids are real fine particles the fish will not eat. Running just actinic lighting for 3 days to a week will usually get rid of all cyano algaes and give you time to control the nutrients. An actinic wave length does not support growth of cyano but will sustain fish and coraline algae as well as corals.