Brown Alge issues

[rcurtis]

Hi,
This is my first post here. I have been looking around on the forum and there is a host of great information and I'm looking for a little help.
I am new to saltwater but have done fresh for many years.

I just got a Solara aquarium and it has been running a little over two weeks. I followed the LFS instructions to a tee. I took a water sample in on Friday and there said it was good to go for fish so we got a couple of Pecula (sp) Clowns. The fish seem to be doing great, they are eating well, I'm being careful not to feed them too much so I don't get extra waste on the bottom.

The water is the issue. It seems to have clouded up and I am having a lot of brown algae that forms but is easily removed with a turkey baster, but comes back in a day. The LFS gave me Phosgard and de nitrate to help with the algae and the little bit of ammonia I had. The water is still cloudy, last time I check the ammonia it was still present but on the lowest scale.

The guys at the LFS are very competent, I have been dealing with them for years, I think they might be getting tired of me.

Sorry for the long post.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Rick

 

[roka64]

Welcome to the site!
I would think twice about taking much more advice from them. It sounds like they were just trying to make money off of you.
You have poor fish in toxic water. PWCs may be in order. Ammonia can/will burn the gills of the fish. A complete cycle would be indicated by 0 ammonia, 0 nitrItes and some nitrAtes.
What you are now seeing are called diatoms. They will burn themselves out and there is no need to add any chemicals to your still cycling tank.
I would suggest you get your own test kits. This will help you learn how to test and learn the way your tank works.
We are here to give free advice based on our personal knowledge and experiences. Your LFS needs you to buy their stuff to keep them in business. They want your money.

We want your pics!

 

[austinsdad]

Good advice on getting a test kit. Need to watch for ammonia and nitrite right away. Read up on fishless cycling too. Rock? Substrate? how much?

See if they are willing to take the fish back.

 

[cmor1701d]

Bad advice from the lfs guy. The tank is not cycled after just 2 weeks a is evident by the ammonia in the tank. ANY ammonia reading is toxic to fish. Please read the articles in the artcles section of this forum. Get your test kits (quality counts, I use Salifert, thoug many people swear by API) and get a refractometer to measure salinity/specific gravity.

New Tank Setup List (Getting started thread)

How to cycle your tank with out the use of fish

And....

 

[melosu58]

Read this 10 point plan.

FantasyReef Databases-Viewing item "10 Step Plan for Nuisance Algae Control"