Is it suppose to be like this?

[kcurlsjr]

So this is my first saltwater tank ever so there will probably be many more questions to come. Currently I am in the middle of my cycle. I have a 45 gallon tank, with a canister filter (Fluval 304) and skimmer (Seaclone 100).

I started my cycle two weeks ago by adding 20lbs live sand and 48lbs live rock. Everything seemed to be going well, after a week ammonia was down from off the charts high to ~0.25 mg/L. Nitrites have remained high (~ 5.0 mg/L) with nitrates between 10 and 20 mg/L.

Over the past three days I have experienced my first algae bloom. My live rock is covered with fuzzy stuff that ranges in color from a burnt orange to a brick red. My substrate has become spotted with the same stuff, that is now creeping up the glass. In addition, the water has become smokey.

Is this normal? My nitrites are too high to add any type of critters to clean up this algae, right?

Thanks in advance

 

[fishfreek]

Your nitrites are very high indeed. Thsi is likly the fuel for the algae your seeing. Is it growing like a mat that covers everyting but is fairly easy to 'fan' off with your hand? If so its canyo a form of bactera more or less. You can easily syphon this out using a hose and bucket. I would do this and a end result would also be a partial water change. This will help knock down the nitrite and also help save any life on the live rock aside from bactera.

Do you have any powerheads in there or just the canister filter and skimmer? If not you will also need some powerheads to kcik up the water movement.

 

[kcurlsjr]

Thanks fishfreek

I could easily fan it off the rock. So, yesterday I spent a considerable amount of time swishing and sucking this stuff out of my tank. And in doing so I ended up with about a 30% water change. It is starting to look better but it appears that this could be a neverending process...am I just being pessimistic?

I also added a swiveling powerhead to help with water circulation.

 

[flamingonhot]

Just get rid of a lot of it with your hand if it gets so bad that you cant stabd the look of it.

After its fully cycled and up for a while it should go away and be replaced with a different type of algae.