cycling a tank

[runtowin777]

so im cycling a tank and im growing stuff but its like an orange brown, but not green. its growing over my rock, my sand, and my walls. is that teh right color?

 

[warforged]

Well that sounds a bit odd... Got a pic of that? Orange Brown? Growing over your rocks,sand, and 'onto' your walls??!

Just to get the basic questions outa the way.

How new is this tank?
Did you use RO/DI water or Tap water?
Do you have live rock and sand....was the live rock already cured?
Do you have livestock in it already (hopenot)

Size of tank...lighting....

I wish you luck.... Orange Brown stuff growing like that sounds odd...I've not heard of that yet... REd is another story =)... ive gone through that already.

Check this out...can you identify your problem by these photos? http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/algaephotosclassificati/Algae_Photo_Gallery.htm

Diatoms issue maybe ?


If it is Redslime type but orange vs red...... Chemclean is a great product that destroys that algae/bacteria thing...without killing off your tank. The only red slime removal i know of besides taking some of your water out into a bucket and scrubbing it off yourself... =\

 

[NC2WA]

Sounds like diatoms.

Very common to have brown diatoms in a new tank. Should settle down in a couple of weeks.

 

[dj tryrd]

if it is diatoms and they dont go down or are to impatient to wait bubble snails and headslugs will eat them all up . no survivors. lol

 

[Krish]

Welcome to RF!!!

Sounds like diatoms.

Very common to have brown diatoms in a new tank. Should settle down in a couple of weeks.

I agree...Probably diatoms. Once your tank cycles and matures some it will disappear. Just remember to use ro/di water so as to not fuel it's growth

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

if it is diatoms and they dont go down or are to impatient to wait bubble snails and headslugs will eat them all up . no survivors. lol

Don't put snails or whatever "headslugs" are in your tank until it's done cycling. They won't survive.

Just ride it out and when your ammonia and nitrite levels are both 0, then add a cleanup crew. Trochus snails don't waste any time taking care of diatoms.

 

[runtowin777]

heres a picture of whats growing in my tank.

 

[NaH2O]

Looks like diatoms to me. Give your tank a chance to go through all its different algae phases. How long has it been set up?

 

[DonW]

Looks like diatoms to me. Give your tank a chance to go through all its different algae phases. How long has it been set up?

I'd say so also. Did you use tap water?

Don

 

[runtowin777]

i used filtered water. its been setup now for about a week.

 

[Adam Black]

Looks like you have lava rock in your tank too?I think There's something in those rocks that cause algae to bloom. Right gentlemen?

 

[Krish]

i used filtered water. its been setup now for about a week.

How was it filtered??? If you can, maybe you can test your water yourself or take a sample to a LFS to test it for you (your makeup/filtered water) and see what results you get (nitrates, phosphates etc). Your make up water could be fueling the diatoms so it's best to check just to be safe.

 

[runtowin777]

diatoms bad for my tank or is it ok? i actually think its been closer to 2 weeks of cycling now. yes i have lava rock and one piece of live rock.

 

[Krish]

diatoms bad for my tank or is it ok? i actually think its been closer to 2 weeks of cycling now. yes i have lava rock and one piece of live rock.

Well, it generally means there is an excess of nutrients in your system which is never really a good thing. Also, it just looks really un-appealing as well

 

[NaH2O]

Diatoms is the first part of the algae progressions during tank cycle. You should see it die off, then you'll start to get a whole new set of algae (cyano, green algae, etc). When diatoms are present you should be happy , because they usually show up at the end of the cycle process. How are your water parameters? ammonia, nitrite, nitrate?

 

[DonW]

diatoms bad for my tank or is it ok? i actually think its been closer to 2 weeks of cycling now. yes i have lava rock and one piece of live rock.

I would pull the lava rock. Its sort of like a hot dog, you never know whats in it.

Don

 

[NC2WA]

there is no set time schedule of when diatoms will disappear. For some tanks, it takes 2 wks, for others in can take 4-6 weeks. It all depends on how much nutrients are in the tank and how good your skimmer is removing the nutrients.

Be patient and all will be well. (ie, the tank will correct itself eventually).

Kirk

 

[runtowin777]

thank you everybody for all the great advice.

 

[jewls33]

well thanks i've got the same problem not as bad but there but this is the first time ive had anything(algae) grow and ive had the tank going for over 3 months

 

[vwmoneypit]

ewhh thats a new topic