hey everybody im back and we started a new marine tank me and my dad at home and its abt 100ltr more or les and we wanna make this a rly nice reef tank its been running 4 2 weeks now and we have 20kg of LR in it and its allready started geting algae i just wanna know if its normal cos the LR is going green with algae and i just make sure its not crashing or something
new marine tank need advice
- Thread starter JayMeister
- Start date
hey Jay 
regretably algae is often part of the cycle as the tank starts maturing. its the swing and flow of nitrates, nitrites and ammonia as things die and or leach stuff into the water collum.
Are you running phosphate remover?
do you have a sump?
are you running a skimmer?
20kg of Lr is a nice amount to start that vollume of water off with, was it matured in someones system "second hand" or did you get it from a LFS?
regretably algae is often part of the cycle as the tank starts maturing. its the swing and flow of nitrates, nitrites and ammonia as things die and or leach stuff into the water collum.
Are you running phosphate remover?
do you have a sump?
are you running a skimmer?
20kg of Lr is a nice amount to start that vollume of water off with, was it matured in someones system "second hand" or did you get it from a LFS?
Pretty normal. The brown stuff on your glass are diatoms from silicates and the green stuff is cyanobacteria. Add a phosphate remover which will help things along. Just make sure you use reverse osmosis water only and not tap water or water from fruit and veg city.
i have a sump but its only got sponge in that black balls and that bone things i heard we must put in LR and real sea sand is that all?
thats NOT all, but send us a pic and we will be able to tell you what to do
PS go read brentnorms thread, its a great way to see how slowly changing things can really help you along
do u know where to find his thread?thats NOT all, but send us a pic and we will be able to tell you what to do
PS go read brentnorms thread, its a great way to see how slowly changing things can really help you along
Great advice there crispin on reading brentnorms thread.
Here is the link
Brent's GREATLY improved tank! - New Members
ok cool and the lights r on from abt 8 in the morning till 10 at night and yes i am runing a skimmer whats a phosphate remover?
Your lights are on too much although you don't need to have them on during the cycle. Drop you photoperiod between 10-12 hours. Most Pet stores will keep a phosphate remover. Phosban, Rowaphos are a few brands
but what does it do exactly?
it removes phospahates and u want to do that cause thats what algae feeds off (in very simplistic terms)
i agree bwith Tony that the lights are running long at the moment, i would drop the photo period a little, although you dont NEED them on during the cycle i would still run them as if there are any pollups comming out as hithikers they would like some light and it helps keep your motivation up
Phosphate remover is easy to run, i use a phosphate chamber but thats not really necessary at the moment. You can add a bag (available at the lfs) and place the phoshpate remover in it, then have that in the sump, probably last chamber or second from last, but after skimmer. just make sure its a slow feed of water through the bag or chamber (depending what you are using) so that it has time to absorb the phosphates
does that make sense?
and u want to do that cause thats what algae feeds off (in very simplistic terms)i agree bwith Tony that the lights are running long at the moment, i would drop the photo period a little, although you dont NEED them on during the cycle i would still run them as if there are any pollups comming out as hithikers they would like some light and it helps keep your motivation up
Phosphate remover is easy to run, i use a phosphate chamber but thats not really necessary at the moment. You can add a bag (available at the lfs) and place the phoshpate remover in it, then have that in the sump, probably last chamber or second from last, but after skimmer. just make sure its a slow feed of water through the bag or chamber (depending what you are using) so that it has time to absorb the phosphates
does that make sense?
ok but must i put 1 in oor not rly?
if you are not using a phosphate remover i would recomend it, yes
ok cool thx crispin and what abt a kalkwasser stirer?
bumpthats NOT all, but send us a pic and we will be able to tell you what to do
PS go read brentnorms thread, its a great way to see how slowly changing things can really help you along
to be honest I would wait a little before looking at kalkstirer, If you can get one at a bargain price and you def know you will need lots of kalk (are u planning SPS or clams for example), then by all means. Although there was a good DIY project by scubaninja i read today, have a look near the end of his thread.
but as you are still cycling i would hold off a while before worrying about them
o ok cool we wanna put in soft corals i heard they r 4 beginners
thx jacques nice to b on board i have alot to learn
and what other equipment should i get?
JayMeister - before you REALLY worry about spending money on other equipment, you should perhaps try and upgrade your skimmer to the biggest one you can afford. Believe me - I too tried a whole lot of "things" - until I decided the day, that I will bite the bullet and get myself a REALLY decent skimmer. I now have an external Bubble Magus BM-260 skimmer, with 2 x AquaBee 2000 litre per hour recirculating pumps on. Since then, my tank has just gone from strength to strength..... And my corals have improved TREMENDOUSLY....
You see - a BIG skimmer allows you the luxury of "overfeeding", because it then removes a BIG amount of the crap that the fish excrete, as well as the rotting food, from the water.
You see - a BIG skimmer allows you the luxury of "overfeeding", because it then removes a BIG amount of the crap that the fish excrete, as well as the rotting food, from the water.