What does algea look like at first?

[SnowZz]

need a link to what algae looks like when it starts forming and what live rock looks like after it tends to come "alive" lol

 

[mfdrookie516]

what kind of algae? there are tons and tons of types to choose from... as for live rock, the look isnt what shows that it is live. the bacteria living on it give it the name. a plastic ornament can be considered "live" if it has nitrifying bacteria living on it, though generally live rock will have coraline and lots of other "stuff" on it after it has been in an established tank for a while

 

[SnowZz]

well after searching this awesome site i came accross a strain called cyanobacteria, and it looks like a cob web appearance, i just had to remove all my rocks. over night its become infected with green dots, brown dots and this slime cob web cyanobacteria. sigh. what to do, i do water changes every day 30% because im cycling, i have a lone clown fish there, poor guy has no home now. im really new and so far ive learned a very important lesson. My LFS is shady.

 

[Zer0]

How much are you feeding the fish? How long are your light cycles? Are you using RO/DI water?

Cyano can be the result of many things. Overfeeding is one, too much light is the other, and there are certain chemicals/elements in tap water that will allow cyano to ravage your tank, which is why RO/DI water is recommended. It get's rid of 99% of sediments and trace elements like nitrates, silicates, etc.. All the things that could easily make a nice saltwater tank turn disgusting.

Also, doing water changes will only slow the cycle down unfortunately, and it will take longer to complete. Honestly, since you only have one fish, why not bring it back? Don't even ask for money or credit.. just give it back. That's what i did for some of my livestock when i couldn't afford to support them anymore. If you get rid of the fish, you won't have to do PWC's and your cycle will most likely go much faster.

Sorry to the fact that you found out your LFS is shady. Most are, and most people notice this AFTER they've been had. It's a sad story.

 

[SnowZz]

ive been reading that some algae is good and the brown and green spots are natural when cycling and look for algae on the tank it self. i dunno man this is a very complicated hobby, lucky you guys keep me going! about returning the fish, i just returned one today the black and white clown i had. He was being abused and wouldnt eat. maybe i should ill sleep on it

 

[Zer0]

Well of course there is good algae, but cyano is definitely not one of them lol.

 

[Don7]

The spots should be fine. The other algae your talking is it like a red/brown "blanket" on the rock? Can you post a pic?

 

[SnowZz]

well i showed my LFS the white stuff and they said its a mold from over feeding. I've moved to feeding every other day, bought a vacuum finally, moved all this crap rock out for cured live rock and bought a T5 dual light system. Already dropped $600 on a 20g tank i can only imagine what u 100g+ guys spend. Still wanna buy a small protein filter. Any ideas where to find one cheap?

 

[Zer0]

Don't bother. Nano skimmers are garbage and you don't need one. As long as you have live rock, and you do weekly PWC's, you've got all the filtration necessary. I would save the money for something else that you might really need like fish food, coral, fish, etc... Don't waste it on nano skimmers, because they hardly compare to regular protein skimmers that actually have a purpose on tanks larger than 50 gallons.

 

[SnowZz]

thanks zero, once my ammonia levels settle finally in a couple weeks ill be putting some coral in with your help!

 

[Zer0]

Just make sure that your tank has gone through it's entire cycle before adding anything. You may want to wait a little while after your tank cycles to put coral in there, just to make sure that your water parameters stabilize. Coral are pretty expensive unless you go with frags, and we wouldn't want to see you lose any expensive pieces of coral.

And so, you have a 20G long? Or a 20G high? And what kind of light fixture do you have?

 

[SnowZz]

umm not sure its 24'' long the tank that is, and the light is the coralife T5 High output Dual Lamp 1 10,000k 24 Watt, 1 Actinic Bluelight 24 watt

 

[cmor1701d]

Let your tank mature for about 6 months or longer before you tackle corals. You want to make sure you have stable water parameters and that you know how to maintain them. That normally takes 6 -12 months as the only way to be sure is to have 3 months or more of stable parameters <g>.

 

[SnowZz]

is the light good enough?

 

[SnowZz]

 

[SnowZz]

Little brown mushrooms started growing in 1 day

 

[Zer0]

Those don't look like mushrooms. Can't really tell by the picture.. but my guess is brown palythoas.

 

[SnowZz]

are they bad? do they sting other coral?

 

[AMDPhenomX4]

They will sting other corals, as will any coral, but are common hitchhikers and the various morphs are commonly collected. The sting they would do is not anything to worry about though.

 

[Zer0]

Yep, couldn't have said it any better. I'd say they are an added bonus to your tank, but like all coral, as AMD stated, they need their space. All in all, you've got a couple good hitchikers. Later on you will begin to see more of them as they multiply and spread.