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well ive been up and running cycled now and now i'm starting to get diatom algae, what kind of fish or star could i get to get rid of it on my sand bed before it gets unsightly?
Diatoms are just part of the cycle. After your cycle is complete, the diatoms will burn themselves out. Usually takes about a week or two. I wouldn't be too concerned. However, after you cycle is done you can get a fish in there and start stocking, just take it slooowwwww. You might also want to get a cleanup crew in there to start keeping things in check. A good mixture of hermit crabs and snails would be a good start.
Oh, well in that case you should be all set to add fish. I wouldn't be too concerned with the diatoms, but if you want to get a star that will help, I would suggest a brittle star. They should help with cleaning the diatoms on the sand bed and on your LR.
As far as fish go, there is nothing that's really going to touch diatoms, but you can add a hardy fish at any time now.
My suggestion would be a sand sifting goby. A dragon goby or diamond goby or watchman. There are several types that will not only take care of diatoms but will keep sand moving so as not to give algea a foothold.
what about one of these?, keep in mind i want to get corals in the next couple months after my tank has matured, so i dont want to get anything that will bother or eat any corals. are these ok also i have a cleanup crew right now various snails and crabs and 1 clown fish
hey hackteck, just wondering how long it took for your tank to completely cycle? i'm assuming you did the fishless cycle with LR. i just got my 90 full of LR and i'm waiting for a cycle to occur. ( Just a little impatient, but i guess everyone is at first)
good luck!
yes i did the fishless cycle, it took me about 7-9 days, ive been cycled for about 2 weeks, ive got a cleanup crew and 1 clown fish in there, everythings still 0 except nitrates which are around 10. i had a pretty quick cyle i guess because my lr was cured already and i also had ls
did you put in any shrimp or anything? how many lbs of lr and ls did you add? i put the lr in on last friday and still no sign of a cycle, but i'm assuming the die off will create a cycle sooner or later. i put in 45 lbs of fiji premium select, and 10 lbs of rubble and a 2.5 lb piece from a lfs. hopefully i'll see something soon. what do you think?
ok, i'll do that tomorrow. also, i am using a FW test kit, which i would think would still show the nh3 in a sw tank. we'll see what happens this weekend. 90 gal tank
thanks!