Hi from Louisiana

[Cindy]

I inherited a 25 gal saltwater tank when we bought our house. It was up and running with no fish for about 6 months so I finally decided to take the plunge and see what I could do with it. I was in the process of draining it when my husband came home and said "why are you doing that?" Keep in mind this is the same person who was always complaining about the salt build up on the tank, saying it's going to ruin our floor. So here I am, after putting the water back in, having it tested, and the proud owner of 3 damsels. Yahoo!! I'm watching them all the time and loving it. Everything looks beautiful and I'm ready to spend some money!!
This evening I pass by the aquarium and back up for a second look and thought..uh oh. That brown stuff wasn't there last night. When I said spend some money, that is not what I had in mind. So here I am franticly searching for some quick learning. Wish me luck!!

 

[yote]

Welcome to the site Cindy,and congrats on the tank.
We'll do our best to help you out with any questions you got.
Now,have you tested your water yet?If you can post readings for ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and phosphate.Along with the type of filtration your running,the type of lighting you have and how long there on,that will go along way in someone being able to help you out. Oh,and what kind of food your feeding,and how much,and how often.

 

[Cindy]

I had my water tested at the pet store last week and everything was perfect. I bought an Instand Ocean hyrometer and tested that today and it was ad 1.026-1.028. Last night was the first time I turned the light out and I am feeding the fish once a day (just a pinch) of TetraMarine saltwater flakes. I swear I think there is more brown on the gravel as we speak.

 

[bobby]

Welcome to the site!! Glad you found us. You should check out the helpful articals at the top of this page for some good info. If you have any questions feel free to post were more than willing to help. One suggstion though switch to frozen food its better than flake. Flakes put phosphate in your tank and can cause algae. Do you have a skimmer? If not I would invest in one. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[bobby]

Also you'll want you saltinity at 1.021 to 1.026 I wouldnt let it get to 1.028. I dont know how much you know about saltwater but when you top off evaperated water always top off with fresh water only and it would be best to use RO or RO/DI water only

 

[matthew1048]

Welcome to the site Cindy, and congrats on the inheritance!!!

Now I'm by no needs one of the more knowledgable people on this site, but in my mind, for anything to grow it has to have a nutrient source. So your first road to recovery is finding your nutrient source. I've been told that most algae blooms are spurred on by the presences of phophate.

Now I understand that you had your water tested last week, and I'm going to assume that you had the water tested before you added your fish. This also means that you had the water tested before you were adding fish food to the tank. I'm gonna say the nutrient source that caused your algae bloom is your flake food. I'd recommend switching over to frozen food, which would probably be better for your fish anyway.

Now lets wait and see what some of the pro's around here say, cause like I said, I'm not one of them...maybe they'll back me up though, LOL.

Keep us updated on your progress, and we would all love to see pics of your tank!!!

Edit: Bobby beat me to the answer!!! LOL. Sorry for the repeated info!!!

 

[RigoSharon]

hello and welcome..glad you found us..

 

[jhnrb]

Welcome to the site. salinity at 1.023 to 1.025 should do nicely at 78 degrees. keep us posted on your progress.

 

[reeffreak]

Welcome to Living Reefs Cindy,the algae bloom is common with new setups.Cutting down on lights and frozen food will go along ways in minimalizing the algae.Good luck and post progress as you go along.

 

[Piggy]

Welcome aboard. We're both in the same boat, learning.