Question??

[adrian_0775]

need some help any takers?

I have been running my tank now for a litle over a week. im running the lights like i would normaly. im starting to see some brown algea growing on the rocks and on the sand. is this good or bad? should i continue to run the lights? i still dont know wich algea is good and witch is bad. any help would be aprciated.
As you can see the diatoms (brown algea) is getting worse. I've had the tank cycle for almost 2 weeks how long before I should do a PWC? shold i make changes to the lighting cycle ( I have them on from 830 am to 630 pm? should i add any crabs to deal with the algea? will they survive? should i do nothing? Im thinking about adding some more base rock this weekend should i clean these rocks before putting them back in the tank?

recent peramiters as of yesterday

temp 77.5
ph 8.2
ammonia .50
nitrate 20
nitrite 1.0
sg 1.021
phosphate .50

 

[neilanh]

This diatoms, very common in new setups. You kinda just have to deal with it until it burns itself out. Diatoms feed on silicates, which are heavily present in new tanks. You should be able to dust them off easily during PWC, but until they burn themselves out they'll just keep coming back. Once they're done, though, they'll go away and bother you now more.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I wouldn't necessarily say they'll bother you no more (I still get a pocket cropping up now and then)... but they normally don't come like you get them when you first start up the tank. But yeah... perfectly normal. Some trochus and astrea snails will make a fine lunch of the diatoms once the tank is fully cycled.

 

[adrian_0775]

thanks for the advice as you can see in the new pic its covering more of my rocks. any other guidance for the rest of my questions? thanks again

 

[goisles1]

nah.. just shorten your lighting period a bit... I'd wait on the PWC until the cycle is over as you have no livestock yet... your almost there!

And trust me.. That's not a bad diatom outbreak.. My sand and rocks were totally brown when I went through it.. 2 weeks later it was all gone

I think I read that the main culprit is the new sand which contains silicates that the diatoms devour. Once that Silicate supply is all eaten, the Diatoms burn out