New tank cycling: A few questions....

[doyle1947]

Hello all,

I've recently set up a new tank and have even more recently added 7kg of cured live rock to start the cycling process.

From the research I've done I understand that I am likely to see at least one algae bloom and high ammonia/nitrates/nitrites in the cycling period.

However, what I wasn't expecting to see was this reddy brown film covering the sand that's appeared in just 2 days :confused: . It's almost like a rusty colour and it covers most of the sand other than the sand very close to the live rock.

Does anyone have any ideas of what this might be?

Also, I seem to have acquired some type of orangey colour anemone (small) and some other form of coral that's a dark red colour and regularly moves behind the rock when the night lights are on/lights are off.

Do you think I should be concerned about these (I've read something about bad anemones being introduced accidentally)?

If not, how should I go about looking after these (food etc)?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Cheers

Matt

[keefsama2003]

increase the flow in the tank and cut back on the light period some.

mostly increased flow will help break up that algae on the bottom.

[Sk8r]

SOunds like some of that live rock is live...

Feed an imaginary fish a pinch of food every day until you get a green bloom, then test the water. When you read 0,0,0 (nitrite/trate, ammonia) then get a cleaning crew to clean up the algae. The pristine look will come back, but part of the cycle is getting the algae and bacteria established. Sometimes it isn't pretty. You can start running the skimmer if you like: won't hurt; won't do outstanding much good, but it should start pulling stuff out soon.

[keefsama2003]

the stuff your describing is cyano. its due to lack of flow. i had it very bad when my tank was first up as soon as i increased the flow it went away. i didnt feed any fish or anything like that just cut back the light cycle a few hours and increased flow

[doyle1947]

A bit of a silly question I know but how do I go about increasing the flow? Does this mean getting more powerheads or another return pump?

[keefsama2003]

stronger return pump
add a few powerheads

the key is to minimize dead spots and make sure that the water circulating doesnt stall anywhere but continues to move in the tank..

[RobNJ]

You could get a bigger pump or just add some powerheads.

[doyle1947]

Thanks for the advice.

I'll add another powerhead (I've got 2 running at present) and move the ones I've got already to cut the dead spots that there may be in lower levels, and see what happens.

I'm not keen on getting another return pump until I've tried a few things and waited to see any natural change for a few weeks.

[keefsama2003]

i had 8 maxijet 1200's in my 90gal tank

and my 300 i have 0 powerheads i have a baracuda and a dart for flow and i have no deadspots at all in the tank the current is sickening as to how much there is and im going to add more. 1 of the icecap vortek pumps as i dont like power cords in the tank. but the cyano is very annoying it was so bad it looked like the redcarpet all over my sand/rocks and i had it bad in a 100g fowlr i maintain for my wifes job

i added a nice return pump in there and none i upgraded their pump to 1200gph and the flow is mad in there as well but the fish love it and no more algae

[RobNJ]

How come high flow prevents the algea

[keefsama2003]

seems cyano is a laying algae that will find a dead spot sit ontop of whats there and spread by not giving it the chance to anchor anywhere it stays in the watercolumn to be processed out.

with dead spots the water isnt moving so it grabs ahold and then just goes crazy. same as certain hair algae's kill the light cycle and they go down some.

i guess to each algae goes certain remedies

[doyle1947]

Sorry, one key point that I should have added was that I used dechlorinated tap water (treated) as opposed to RO water that I know is strongly recommended by people. Is this likely to make this algae bloom worse?

Another question I have is whether there will be a cycle every time more rock is added? I was planning to add some each month and let nature take it's course for a few months before starting to add a clean up crew/fish/mushrooms. Is this a wise move or would I be better off putting all of the rock in together?

[keefsama2003]

if your adding uncured rock then yes there will be cycle if its fully cured rock then there should be little to none at all.

all depends on the rock your adding. if you want to stay away from any cycles then use cured live rock there is no die off as its gone thru that already

[MCary]

It happened too fast. I doubt its cyano. Its probably diatoms. Natural occurance. Expected in new setups.

Mike

[keefsama2003]

if its the way he described it its cyano diatoms dont blanket the bottom like that they more puff out like little tuffs

i had a bad cyano breakout on my 90 3 days into the cycle and have had quite a few battles with it. all dealing with not enough flow

[doyle1947]

I'll be adding cured live rock - I guess that means I should avoid any further cycles after the initial one.

What do you think I should expect to see at the next stage in the process if this brown film that is now also on the rocks and the glass is diatoms?

[keefsama2003]

you will go thru a few different algae cycles diatoms / cyano / just a matter of letting the cycle take its place dont use the lights too much and increase the flow and it will go on its own.

with diatoms if they get bad i use a poly pad and some carbon and scrub them off with a old toothbrush

that was about it.

[Bri Guy]

Just make sure that that little orange anemone isn't one of these, they will take over the whole tank, in my filter, skimmer, heater, on my snails, as soon as you see one take care of bussiness, unless you love dandilions.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=803632

[doyle1947]

It's been in the tank for about 2 weeks and I've (so far) not seen any sign of it spreading.

I can't seem to see it on your link but I'll describe it further in case any one knows whether it is a pest anemone.

It's an orange/red colour, about 1/2" in diameter. It has what appears to be a green "mouth" and bright green "stem" which covers it when the lights are switched off (apologies for the lack of technical terms....I'm new to this you know!).

I am a bit concerned that this will cause future problems. And on top of that it's not the prettiest of things!

The other "thing" I've found is slightly bigger (around 1" diameter"), the same dull orange colour, has long tentacles and moves around a bit depending on light conditions?

Any ideas?