Diatoms/Brown algae?

[m3drver]

Is this a diatom/algae bloom? My tank has been running for just over a month. Its still cycling. I've been keeping the light on for a few hours a day to help some polyps that hitchhiked on the LR.

So, should I be concerned? Do I have to siphon out all the brown stuff on the sand? The brown on the rocks isn't easily blown off, i have to scrub it to remove any of the brown stuff. Should I get some snails to help with this?

Water parameters as of tonight

PH: 8.2
Ammonia: .25
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 10
Phosphate: 0
Temp: 80
no inhabitants in the tank yet ( other than what came on the LR )

As always AA rocks! so thanks for any help.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Yup. Those are diatoms.

Once your ammonia/nitrites drop to 0, adding a cleanup crew of snails (trochus, astrea, and nassarius are my picks) will take care of it for you. No need to scrub or vacuum.

 

[m3drver]

Thanks Kurt, One more question though. Should I eve bother to turn on the lights for any period of time? considering that there are a few Polyps that are still hanging in there.

Funny thing is, I went to my LFS just to see what they would say about the diatoms. Reading the info on Fatasyreef.com I asked about snails that would eat diatoms. The LFS said nothing would eat diatoms and that I would have to deal with it and siphon it out. Go figure..

Good thing I can always get some good advice on AA.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Hmm. Snails don't eat diatoms. I'm gonna have to tell my snails that! You might want to treat that LFS's advice as suspect... or at least the employee that told you that.

Here's a shot right after my tank cycled...

... and here's a shot 2 days after I added about 20 trochus and astreas...

They were busy little guys.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Agree with Kurt. Let the tank be, and even without the addition of snails, the diatoms should go away. Mine was an overnight change. There one day, completely gone the next. It just takes enough tank maturity for the little critters to get eaten.

Good luck.

 

[m3drver]

You guys are great. Thanks

On a side note, I upgraded my lighting.. I got a Nova Extreme Pro fixture on its way here this Friday. Can't Wait!
Think I'll go watch the tank for a while...

 

[melosu58]

I agree with kurt and Lindsay that it`s nothing to worry about. Just Diatoms. Congrats on the new lights.

 

[Dennis210]

Just an added note on cleanup crews. Cerith, nassarius, astrea, and marginatta snails are my personal favorites. Turbo's will work but they cannot right themselves when overturned they die. As for hermits I love the look of scarlet reef hermits but they are not a gregarious species and will fight whenever they meet one another. Simple red legged hermits and dwarf blue legged hermits work great. Also whenever the clean up crew is introduced I suggest to many that a algae blenny like the sailfin or lawnmower and a sandsifter like a diamond watchman goby are great for the crew as well! Good luck and snails ad even hermits will eat diatoms, unfortunately you spoke with a not so educated LFS employeee.

 

[m3drver]

Just an added note on cleanup crews. Cerith, nassarius, astrea, and marginatta snails are my personal favorites. Turbo's will work but they cannot right themselves when overturned they die. As for hermits I love the look of scarlet reef hermits but they are not a gregarious species and will fight whenever they meet one another. Simple red legged hermits and dwarf blue legged hermits work great. Also whenever the clean up crew is introduced I suggest to many that a algae blenny like the sailfin or lawnmower and a sandsifter like a diamond watchman goby are great for the crew as well! Good luck and snails ad even hermits will eat diatoms, unfortunately you spoke with a not so educated LFS employeee.

Thanks Dennis, good stuff to know.

I knew enough to not just take the LFS' advice and run with it. I needed to confirm things here before doing anything. I like researching prior to jumping in. Again, much more info learned here than at the LFS.

 

[m3drver]

I agree with kurt and Lindsay that it`s nothing to worry about. Just Diatoms. Congrats on the new lights.

Thanks!

 

[m3drver]

... and here's a shot 2 days after I added about 20 trochus and astreas...


They were busy little guys.

Busy indeed. Nice job of cleaning those rocks. wow. I have the same size tank as you and the LFS suggested 12 Astrea snails @ $16 for a half dozen.

 

[m3drver]

Update

Sure enough as the weeks went by, I noticed the diatoms start to fade away, so I check the levels and it looked like ammonia was 0, Nitrite as well. Just to be sure I took a sample of my tank water to the LFS and had them test. they confirmed my readings. so it looks like the cycle is over, and while I was there, I picked up a CUC. Here's what I got.

20 Dwarf Blue Leg Hermits
6 Trochus Snails
6 Nassarius Snails

I'm leaning toward more Nassarius snails, maybe 12 more and I might have over done it with the hermits ( but they are so tiny ).

Anyway, I acclimated the CUC by floating the bag and adding small amounts of my tank water to the bags every 20mins or so. after almost 2 hours I set them loose in the tank. The Hermits went right to work. So did the Nassarius snails. The Trochus' were placed on the glass and on the rocks and let loose from there.

The CUC has now spread out about the tank and are busy doing their thing.

Now , I just have to get the RO/DI unit setup.....