Algae- during cycle?

[jimbozed]

Hi all
another newby question..
my tank has been cycling for 2 weeks or better,
ammonia is on its wasy down, nitrite seems to have peaked,
the live rock i put in for the cycle has died a little in spots, which i expected.
in the last couple days i have a whispy brown algae growing on the live rock,,?? probly half inch long.
Is this OK, i havent checked nitrates yet,
could this be a result of rising nitrate levels.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v635/jimbozed/algae1.jpg

That appears to be hair algae which is an indication of high nutrient levels in the tank. Several ways to handle this situation...

You can add more hermits and snails and they well usually aleviate this situation.

If your running lights shut them off and let the algae die back and allow the filtration systems and skimmer a chance to take up the excess nutrients. If you just must run lights then run actinic only.

Adding a Tang or one of the Dwarf Angels as soon as the cycle is complete is also an option that will give mixed results.

Running some phosephate remover in the filter will also help beat the algae back.

All in all this is a pretty noraml occurance in t anew tank start up and nothing to get too excited over at this point unless it continues or begins to grow more. I would suggest a combination of these techniques in order to achieve best results.

HTH's

[jimbozed]

so,, ? can i add hermits and snails, now, or should i wait for the cycle to finish?

also, i only have a very small amount of live rock in my tank, should i put more in now or wait for the cycle to finish,
I want heaps of live rock but only put one piece in for the cycle.
I think im doing this all wrong,

[Sugar Magnolia]

If you can add all your rock now and let the tank continue cycling, that would be best. If that's not an option, you can set up a cycling tub and cycle the LR in batches in the tub. All you need is a large rubbermaid tote, a powerhead and a heater.

[Doctor_Reef]

Hi jimbozed....listen...you could get all the LR you want now and let it all cycle together...even with fully cured rock you may see a mini-cycle...some hermits and snails eat hair algae...but tangs love it...lawnmower blennies love it...but then after the algae is gone the lawnmowers tend to starve....:( water quality issues are mainly the cause and certainly in a new tank going through cycling you get this kind of stuff....
What are you water Parameters now??? And tank details....size, lighting, filtration, and type of sw tank...FOWLR, Reef, etc....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v406/RLeversee/Site%20Stuff/WelcomeDoc.png

[TranZ]

can i add hermits and snails, now, or should i wait for the cycle to finish?

Don't add any livestock to your tank until it finish the cycle. I suggest cut down in your photo period on your tank, this will help with algae problem. since you don't have any livestock you don't need to run you light that much. JMHO

[jimbozed]

I was look at having live rock and fish.
my tank is 48Lx14Wx18H
i have 1 inch coral sand
1500lph canister filter with bioballs
power head, heater
All equipment i had as i have 10 cichlid tanks. but this salt water deal is a bit more complicated lol

amonia- o
nitrite- 3
KH- 8
Sg 1.024
PH- 7.7
temp- 26c
1x 4 foot triphosphous fluro

[jimbozed]

i have a pile of old dead coral,
would it be good for base rock or in the filter maybee??

[jimbozed]

ok,
after a lot of running around, seems my Nitrite kit is stuffed..
new nitrite test result

Nitrite= 0.5
ammonia= 0
ph= 7.7
salinity= 1.024
temp 26c

[TranZ]

don't forget to check your NITRATE.

[jimbozed]

im not convinced my tests are rightso
due to my loss of confidence in my test kit i am throwing it out .
i will go and get a new one tomorrow from LFS, ammonia,nitrite,nitrate and PH
i think maybee the one i have was cheap because it was old or just "cheap"

[TranZ]

you can also bring a sample of your water and ask ur LFS to check it for you. what kind of test kit do u have? make sure its for saltwater.

[jimbozed]

i have a "tetra test" saltwater kit, but the box is pretty worn lookin
LFS gave it to me cheap, so im a little worried it was sittin on their shelf for a while.
another LFS has "aquarium pharmicuiticals" test kits, so i will get one of those tomorrow.
i will get LFS to test water as well , for a comparison.

[TranZ]

thats good ....let us know what are the results. i too us AP test kits..they are easy to read but be careful cause those things expired as well. each bottle has a date when it was produce. they generaly expired after 2 years from what i read in this forum.