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ram6519

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jul 27, 2004
Messages
59
Location
Brandon, MS
My tank has been set up for 3 weeks. I have a 55 Gal tank with 3-4" DSB. I put in 10 lbs of LFS store LR to cycle the tank before I ordered from LR.com. The LR has been in the tank for 2 weeks now. The LR is starting to look like it has gone about 3 days without shaving. It looks like it has Redish Purple whiskers growing out of it. Some as individuals and some in groups. They look like they are about 1/4" long. My PH is coming around since I put in the LR (8.0 - 8.2) but my Ammonia is still real high. My LFS said that the Ammonia is still too high to put ANYTHING into the tank yet. Is there anything I can do before the LR gets to hairy?
I am running a HOB filter w/ carbon.
Can some snails or cleaner shrimp take the higher Ammonia levels?

Thanks
 
No, Don't worry about it. You can add a clean up crew after the tank has cycled. I would cut back on the lighting to 4 hrs if you want. Your biggest concern should be the ammonia which is killing alot of the life on your rock.
 
Thats all my tank is getting now is 4 hrs of light. I turn them on at 6pm til 10pm. Do I just need to leave them off period for a while??
 
Unless you completely cover the tank it won't really make a difference because the ambient light in the room will be enough for the algae.

This is a totally normal stage for new tanks and you shouldn't be concerned at all.. once the cycle is done you can add a cleanup crew that will happily eat the whole lot.
 
Unless you completely cover the tank it won't really make a difference because the ambient light in the room will be enough for the algae.
But turning off the lights will still help. I'm with phases99
 
I never new about limiting the light entering the tank during cycling. When should I start cutting down on the light?

Right now I have a timer running and my tank is getting 12 hours of light a day. No Algea blooms yet. The tank has been cycling for about a week. I keep the window blinds shut so it remains fairly dark in their during the day.
 
Well, I took my water to my LFS yesterday to be tested and the PH has dropped some (7.8) and they said the Ammonia is still on the high side. They told me to get a turkey baster and blow off the live rock then do a 6 Gal water change. I did this and today I see to have spots of brown algae all over the sand and glass. I am now cutting my lights back from 4 to 2 hrs a day. Is the brown algae OK or do I need to scrape it off? This is starting to get frustrating.
 
dont worry about the algae so much my friend.... there are plenty of critters out there that would love to eat that... jsut wait for ur tank to cycle then put in a bunch of hermits.... or a sea hare... hed love that
 
similar problem at my end, green floating algae limiting my light also. used to do a 6 hr period down from 12, covered the windows yadayadayada...

started at 7 off by 1am... but still residual light during the day from windows even with blinds...

i am trying something new... since it gets ambient light during the day i'll do the six hours during that time frame i am now turning them on at 2 off by 8... hope this works and i hope this helps you...
 
BTW- pH fluctuations are also normal during cycling.. no need to be frustrated, everyone goes through the same stages when setting up a new tank. There will most likely be some more bad algae blooms after cycling but everything will fall into place eventually.. just hang in there.
 
Someone on another forum suggested that maybe my HOB filters could be working against or slowing down what the live rock is suppose to be doing. Any Ideas on this??
 
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