Tank cycling? not sure

[tooldini]

Hello,, I need some help and have some pics to show for reference. I am wondering if this is part of the cycling process. I have some yellow looking ,orange and deep red spots on my rocks and sand. Also pink spots that look like coraline algae that was on other rocks I bought. The tank has only been set up for 1 week. It is a 38 gallon with about 50 pounds of live rock and 7 gallons of established reef water from a friend. I have pengiun bio wheel running and protein skimmer hooked up but not running yet. 2 zoo med power heads. I also have 2 96 watt power compacts one 10k daylight and one actnic. Should I have the skimmer running now? Also will the spots go away? Are they diatoms? Should I add anything to get rid of the algae or just wait for the cycle. Lot of questions just you guys can help me out.

thanks
Jeff

 

[electrikat]

First you will get diatoms and algae. Diatoms are brownish red mostly brown. There is nothing you can do about it. It has to run it's course. Start the skimmer because it takes a couple of weeks to break in.

 

[tooldini]

Ok,, thanks. I guess I also wondered if the algae and diatoms will mostly go away when the cycle is over? When should I do another check on the water quality? I did one a couple days ago and got these readings,, ammonia 0, nitrate 10-15 kinda in between, PH 8.2, and nitrite 0 Thanks for all the help

Jeff

 

[EJS4]

I did one a couple days ago and got these readings,, ammonia 0, nitrate 10-15 kinda in between, PH 8.2, and nitrite 0

Have you seen any ammonia? good quality LR can accelerate cycling. When I cycled my tank had a small ammonia spike dropped to zero, and never saw nitrites. I would check it again. Make sure ammonia and nitrite still 0 and to see if nitrates are lowering.
The algaes are growing as a result of the high nutrient level in the tank. Diatoms from silica as stated will disappear on own when silica is used up. High nitrates increase other algaes growth, again as nutrient level drops algae growth will diminish.

 

[tooldini]

Thanks for your reply! I want to get some more live rock within the next couple weeks......if I do so will I mess things up in the tank? Is it best to wait longer?

Jeff

 

[morgan24]

the new lr u enter will probably give you a little ammonia spike. But it all depends on the type of lr it is,cured or uncured. i would try liverocks.com i hear they are the best and very little spikes on any thing

 

[phishead]

Adding more live rock will cause an ammonia spike, but not mess things up. You may have to wait longer to add fish.

Are those brown things moving? They look a lot like flatworms to me. But, it is not the best picture.

Should I add anything to get rid of the algae or just wait for the cycle.

Algea is a necessary part of the system. Never add anything to a marine tank for getting rid of it. unless it is for phosphate/ nitrate control. Still you are better off growing macro algea that will use the nutrients, and keep nuisance algea at bay.

You might think about checking water daily. If you chart it you will be able to see the cycle occur and you will understand what is happening a lot better.

 

[Jonathan G.]

yea if you want to add more live rock make sure it is cured so you dont affect your tank as much as uncured rock. also if im not mistaken isn't better to take the bio-wheels out in a SW tank? dont they harvest nitrates?

 

[phishead]

bio-wheels out in a SW tank?

YEs, But I have been using them in my 75 for over a year. 0 nitrates yet. I was running 2 penguin 330's until recently. Now I only use one. Biowheels will help a lot with a new tank because it provides an awesome place for the ammonia/ nitrite removing bacteria to grow since they are aerobic. Keeps the ammonia spikes down when adding new livestock and will help a lot with the addition of new rock. In my experience.

They start creating high nitrate levels when detrius collects in them(like Bio-balls). Then the nitrate created is more than the rock can handle. Until that happens, Run em!

 

[tooldini]

cycling

Thanks everyone. I have noticed the brown algaes going away already and some really really bright green stuff on parts of some rocks. I assume it just another algae.

thanks
Jeff

 

[quarryshark]

Looks like the start of hair algae or maybe cyno.
Have you tested for PO4?

 

[tooldini]

I don't have a test for that yet. Day ten my readings are Ammonia 0, Nitrates 10, PH 8.3, and Nitrite 0. Skimmer is now skimming some stuff very light brown,green in color.

thanks
Jeff

 

[pluk1992]

phishead is right take those wheels out it will be hard to get those nitrates down my climbed of the charts and are now just coming down so rin them for a while but not to long

 

[tooldini]

Thanks I will keep an eye on it,, I ran one on my 15 gal many years ago and didn't have problems. I will watch closely though. Thanks

Jeff