few questions bout my 3 week old tank

[daniel89]

My tank has been setup for a good 3 weeks, I have had live rock in it for about week and half. But they rock came out of a tank where it was sitting for a good 3 weeks cycling. Parts of the rock have some coraline algea on it growing. How long should i run my lights? Its a MH t5ho combo so im just curious. I been running the mh for 7 hours a day and now i have a brownish green diatom algea bloom on everything. And i think i have green hair algea?

Ill try to get some pictures in the next hour and post them.

Also where this diatom algea is there is air bubbles also is that normal or what?

I'm just making sure I'm going in the right direction and making sure im not going in the bad direction and causing a problem that will drive me up the wall and probably out of the sw hobby which i don't want to happen.

Thanks in advance.

P.s. ammonia nitrite and nitrate are all barely registering in tests

[star27624]

You do not have to run your lights during a cycle unless there are some corals that hitchhiked in on your LR that you are trying to maintain. Some algae growth is normal during the cycle as there are lots of nutrients for it to feed on.

If you are still reading any ammonia at all, then your cycle is still going. What test kits are you using?

Even though the rock was previously cycling in another container, you will still have a bit of die off when you transfered it from one environment to another. Just be patient, that's the hardest part.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Nope, everything sounds perfectly normal so far. You really don't need to run the lights during the cycle.

[daniel89]

well i looked closely earlier and it looks like i got a few white star polyps coming up that are really small and i might want to keep them.

[Sugar Magnolia]

well i looked closely earlier and it looks like i got a few white star polyps coming up that are really small and i might want to keep them.

Are you sure it's not aiptasia? Post a pic.

[Cooper Inc]

Hey Dan, dont run the MH, run the T5HO, that light will suffice for the polyps..... Use a phosban reactor to try to elminate the algae and reduce the cyclying... you should be okay after that..... try to do water changes every couple of days..... Good luck

[daniel89]

okay heres the pictures

I know they are really small but yeah was the best picture i could get of them. What should i feed them if anything?
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm71/ravenelscape/IMG_0180-1.jpg

Green hair algea???
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm71/ravenelscape/IMG_0186-1.jpg

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm71/ravenelscape/IMG_0182-1.jpg
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm71/ravenelscape/IMG_0183-1.jpghttp://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm71/ravenelscape/IMG_0184-1.jpghttp://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm71/ravenelscape/IMG_0185-1.jpg

[daniel89]

Hey Dan, dont run the MH, run the T5HO, that light will suffice for the polyps..... Use a phosban reactor to try to elminate the algae and reduce the cyclying... you should be okay after that..... try to do water changes every couple of days..... Good luck

and my t5ho are atinics so will that matter?

[daniel89]

friend of mine said it looks like a feather duster?

[jenjen]

I have aiptasia in my avitar... if it looks like that KILL IT!!!

As for the algae & diatoms, I wouldn't worry too much at this stage. Looks like normal 'new tank' stuff.

[jenjen]

Here's one more, just incase. They're fairly photogenic, aren't they???

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk161/jphillips2/aip_zoa_061309.jpg

[Muddy35]

+1 on the feather dusters, no need for light if thats all there is, Looks ike you could prob use alittle more flow in the tank as well, what are you using for water movement in the tank? Everything looks normal as said and it should all clear up after the nutrients are used up.
As others have said- Nothing Fast happens in this hobby- patience is a virtue!

[daniel89]

ugh there are 3, korilia 3's in there plus what is coming from the mag 12 return pump which should be way more than enough flow

[Michael]

the one pic shows apstasia, however i would'nt concern yourself with feather dusters or other livestock at this moment, try to get the apstasia out, otherwise just allow the tank media to cycle, some life will die and other life may emerge, get back on track, buy 3 test kits ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, test for these and watch them rise and die, then you will be confident the media has progressed to the stage where it can sustain life and you could then add some stock, as for light on light off, i suggest you put the lights on for an hour or 2 at night purely for pleasure, theres no need for the lights to be on during the earliest stages, which your at now.