Yellow cast?

[dalebSFO]

Hi All -

I'm new to the hobby and have already gotten some great advice from this group, so I'm hoping you can help me out with the following:

I have a newly set up tank - it's been up and running for several weeks and seems to have completed cycling. The tank is 72 gallon bow-front with another 15 or so gallons in the sump. There is a protein skimmer running and I've got 85 lbs of live rock and another 80 lbs of live sand.

So far, so good. About 10 days into the cycling, at the recommendation of my LFS, I added a bottle of bacteria to help the cycle move along. It was a fairly low dosage - the bottle was only good for up to 20 gallons, but given that I had so much live rock and that the cycle was already in progress (per my daily testing results) I thought it would be a nice "booster" for the tank. The directions on the bottle suggested that I turn off the skimmer for 4 days - which I did. During that time the tank got a little yellowish in color.

After the 4 days I turned the skimmer back on and it's doing it's job - I'm emptying the cup daily. It's been on for 3 days now, but there is still a yellowish cast to the water. Not severe, but a slight tint. Test results are good - 0 Ammonia and 0 Nitrites. My Nitrates are at 10.

I just completed my first water change (10%) in anticipation of adding my first livestock tomorrow (a few snails and a couple pistol shrimp). But, I'm wondering if I should be concerned about this yellow tint. It's definitely less pronounced than when I had the skimmer off, but is it anything to be worried about?

Also - not sure if this matters or not - but I don't currently have any lights on the tank - just the ambient room light. I've got a set of AI Blue Sol LED lights on order, but apparently, so does everyone else and they're on back order.

Thoughts? Advice to a newbie?

Thanks!
Dale

[billdogg]

You just have dissolved organics in the water. carbon will clear it up and keep it clear.
I run some carbon in a reactor (a mesh bag in the sump will work, but not as well). www.bulkreefsupply.com has some very nice ones at a fair price. I use 2 x singles - one for the carbon, one for GFO.

[dalebSFO]

Thanks Bill! Noticed you're from Grove City - my old stomping grounds...lived in Columbus for about 15 years during and after time at OSU.

[billdogg]

Go Bucks!!!! Glad to be of help.

[clownfreak]

As Bill said, some carbon should clear it up. The bacteria you added was probably useless though, there were only a select few (2-3) bacteria products that were supposed to actually work.

[dalebSFO]

Clown - you're probably right about the bacteria. But, it did cause me to turn off my skimmer for a few days during cycling, which I"m now reading may have been a good thing to do. Always learning in this hobby...