Our new hobby

[stapet77]

My husband, Mike and me (Stacy) inherited a 55 gal tank, 100 lbs of live rock, and some fish from a firend of ours a couple of months ago. When we told him we wanted the aquarium, we had no idea what we were getting into. It was a living nightmare at first, but now our tank has cycled, and we are having a blast. A friend is keeping the animals/fish in their QC tank until ours is stable. I am sure I will have many questions, so here is the low down on where we are right now...

155 gal tank
Sea Clone 100 Protein Skimmer
Corallife Lunar Aqualight - 2 -65 watt actinics, 2- 65 watt compact flourescent daylights on timer
Live Aragonite Sand
2 - Mag Jet 900 powerheads
1 - Mag Jet 400 powerhead
Magdrive 9.5 pump
Sump (still using bioballs)
100 lbs live rock
2 damsels (hanging in there through all the problems we've had)
RO system for water changes

Water Chemistry
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate:15
SG: 1.022
Temp 80.5 F (chiller should be delivered any day now)
pH: 8.0 (just added buffer today)
Phosphate: .03
Ca: 340 ppm

We have what I believe is red slime. It is a red powdery algae.

So that is the low down. We have struggled with temperature fluctuations, and high nitrates which have caused various algae blooms.

This is an awesome hobby - better than I ever imagined and I look forward to sharing with you all!

SG

[jhnrb]

Welcome to the site. did you say you had a 55 or 155 gal system. anyways i assume it is a 55 gal. The rust colored powdery stuff could be diatoms. check for silicate levels. your nitrates are good but still a bit high and will feed the algae stuff. when you start to stock, do so slowly and be patient. welcome, good luck and post any questions you may have in one of the general dicussion forums. oh and if you are going to buffer use only one of the two part buffers such as C-balance or Tech CB. look forward to chatting with you in the future.