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dstalte
05/30/2007, 07:24 PM
After 1 1/2 weeks the live rock is turning golden brown on top . Probably some form of algie. I am using crushed coral as a bed and cycle (liquid product) for healthy bacteria. Adding about 2 cap fulls a week, 14 gal biocube tank. Any ideas on what to do or is it just normal tank cycling and just do a water change..

Reefmack
05/30/2007, 07:31 PM
Sounds like the normal brown diatom algae that should disappear in a week or two. You may get green algae after that. Just part of the way it seems to go.

Here's a good (but long) thread to let you know some of the stages you can expect to see - brown algae included:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=239848

There's a LOT of good information in Reef Central!

dstalte
05/30/2007, 07:40 PM
nice , thanks for the reply...

Reefmack
05/30/2007, 07:43 PM
Just edited my previous post - helpful information.

chase33
05/30/2007, 07:53 PM
Yep, that's likely what it is. It usually goes as quickly as it arrives. One day it will just disappear. Why the crushed coral and not sand?

dstalte
05/30/2007, 08:09 PM
live sand expensive (30-35$ a bag) crushed coral much cheaper and LFS uses it in Orefield PA ( very helpfull bunch American Aquarium)

chase33
05/30/2007, 08:28 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10047045#post10047045 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dstalte
live sand expensive (30-35$ a bag) crushed coral much cheaper and LFS uses it in Orefield PA ( very helpfull bunch American Aquarium) Fish only or reef?

dstalte
05/30/2007, 08:40 PM
I guess a little of both. just 2 small fish now but eventually 3 more and a small anenme and small piece of coral on the 2 lbs of live rock I have in there. You can see the tank in my profile

chase33
05/30/2007, 08:48 PM
The reason I ask is because crushed coral traps debris which could lead to nitrate issues. You could purchase regular sand and seed it with a cup of LS from you LFS.

Reefmack
05/31/2007, 05:13 AM
It depends on how fine the crushed coral is. I have aragonite substrate in my tank, basically a mixture of reef sand spheres and aragonite coral chips, that provides a large surface area for bacteria colonization and serve as an excellent media for both aerobic (nitrifying) and anaerobic (denitrifying) biological filtration. The high buffering capacity of the aragonite, the most dissolvable form of calcium carbonate, helps to maintain natural, stable levels of pH in the tank. I don't see any trapping of debris in the type I have. Hard to see in dstalte's pic how fine the crushed coral is, but it looks pretty fine from what I can see. If the chips are large I guess some finer sand could be mixed in with it, but not sure if it's necessary IMO.