cleaning up tank

A

ashmore1999

Reefing newb
Well i think my tank just ran its first cycle. It has been running for about 2 weeks now and it is starting to get the live rock covered in brown algae. I am running a sump filter and skimmer, however I haven't gotten any really good dark foam in the skimmer yet ( skimmer has ran for about a week ) Ive had a coral beauty in the tank since 24 hr after i filled and started the tank. Today I just got 2 turbo snails, a crab, and a clown fish. I was wondering what else i need or can do to help get rid of the brown algae. I checked my nitrates and it was showing around 19. also I have a Crushed coral bottom with the live rocks.

Would an algae scrubber help me out?

I can get a few pics of my tank if it would help out in determining what I have going on.


Thanks
 
You won't be able to do much about the algae at all. It's normal for a new tank, and it's going to happen no matter what you do.

Since your nitrates are getting high, you do need to be doing water changes. 10 to 20% of your tank's volume once a week or so. You are about at the limit at which inverts can live safely, anything higher than 20 can be detrimental to inverts.

Also, hold off on adding any more fish for a while. I wouldn't add any more fish for at least 3 weeks, and when you do add more fish, leave about 3 weeks in between new additions.

It usually takes a week or two for a new skimmer to break in, so it's not unusual that yours isn't producing much yet. It will eventually; hopefully soon.

Do you use tap water or RODI water? If you are using tap water, then you may never be able to have an algae free tank. Tap water fuels all types of algae and contains heavy metals, nitrates, and phosphates, and you really shouldn't use it.

Also, the crushed coral may pose a problem down the road. Crushed coral tends to cause high nitrates because its big particles trap detritus and crap, and the animals that usually take care of it (animals that live in the sand) don't usually do so well in crushed coral, so your substrate becomes a crap trap and nitrate factory. Your options are to try hard to keep it clean yourself, or swap it out for sand.
 
I did use tap water initially starting the tank .... didnt do my homework good enough on that part. I am going to be looking at getting a RO filter. Is there something i use with the water or buy like the filtered water from walmart ( 5 gallon jugs ) to use for a water change until i get the RO system?
 
Yeah, bottled water is fine. You can get it at the grocery store or Walmart, or your LFS. Read the labels -- if it says something in small print like "Prepared using reverse osmosis" then you're buying RO water. Some people have said that they've bought RO water from stores, and the water wasn't all that good, but even if that was the case, I'd still say it's better than tap water!

The RODI system I got was super cheap and has worked great for several years now. I've recommended it to several others on this site, and so far everyone seems to be happy with it (besides the impossible to understand instructions). I got mine from www.purewaterclub.com. They have great prices and their RODI units work!
 
Biff is 100% correct.
What your seeing now is diatoms.They feed on silicates.It'll take time to work through those and for the diatoms to use the silicates up.
Just ride em out and keep your water quality high and they'll eventually go away.
 
I guess I should also give details on the sump. I am running a sump .... water into the sump, through the skimmer, over into the spong filter down into bio-balls then over into the return area

Thanks
 
+1 Biff and Yote..and just to add my :twocents:, you should remove the bio-balls and replace them with live rock rubble. Tap water+crushed coral+bio-balls=high nitrates forever. Weekly water changes with ro water will bring those trates down for you.
 
If I remove the bioballs and change to live rock in my filter and get my RO water going would I be able to get by without replacing the crushed coral?
 
Yeah you could...just make sure you vacuum your substrate when doing water changes, and feed lightly...excess food will fall to the bottom of the crushed coral and decay, which will cause nitrates, but as long as you keep the bed clean, you should be fine.
 
i have the same one but min is made for duel outs one for the kitchen sink for drinking water and one that runs through the di than to the tank for top offs and water changes
 
ok well im gonna remove the bioballs and other filters from the sump other than the skimmer. Ive read about people putting an algae scrubber in their sump. would i be better to build an algae scrubber in the unused section of my sump once i take the bioballs out or put in a bunch of live rock pieces?

also my skimmer looks like its working now. my question on it is should their be an inch or two of water in it or should it be all foam in the top? mine has about 1-2 inches of really brown water in it and some foam on top. It isnt overflowing with water but just holding steady with that much.

Thanks to everyone for all their help ......... Me and my family thank you all, My wife is getting into having the tank now, she wants a yellow tang for mothers day now, and my daughters just pull up a chair and sit in front of the tank and watch it in the mornings before school
 
Theres a thread in the DIY forum about building your own algae scrubber,and I'm sure you could set it up in your sump.
Sounds like your skimmer is doing its job too.As long as its pulling brown nasty looking stuff,its working.
 

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