new tank question

[Boxster]

my 72 gal is in week 5. so far salinity is good, water tests are in acceptable ranges. about 70lbs of lr, added a clean up crew on sunday. in the past 2 days ive entered the brown algae stage that ive read about so often. do i just let things run their course? how long will my tank look like crap? and when should i begin water changes? thanks

[wanareef]

I would do a water change now, and another in a couple of weeks. 20%. Do you have a skimmer going yet?

[Boxster]

yes i have a euroreef, and a sump w/ a fuge , what about the brown algae?

[Xerxies]

Leave the algae, it will starve in time, if it isn't all consumed by the turbo-snails, (you DO have turbo-snails?) It's a natural part of the seasoning proccess. Sure, it's ugly as all-get-out, but IMO, your better off letting nature do its thing, than going in there with a toothbrush-a-scrubbing and risking an algae-bloom.

Once your cycle is complete you might as well start doing water changes weekly or bi-weekly. 10-15% is enough, if you do them frequently. The brown algae will starve off once your micro-biologicals breed up in better quantity, reducing your nitrates. give it a week, maybe two.

[kwjones]

Sounds like diatoms...aren't you lucky! They aren't that bad and usually go away by themselves after a few weeks. What kind of water are you using? I started my tank with well water and finally had to switch to RO/DI because my silicates were off the chart. After I switched to RO/DI the diatoms slowly went away. Although....if you like sponges and tunicates, silicates aren't necessarily a bad thing.

[WilyGuy]

Originally Posted by kwjones

Sounds like diatoms...aren't you lucky! They aren't that bad and usually go away by themselves after a few weeks. What kind of water are you using? I started my tank with well water and finally had to switch to RO/DI because my silicates were off the chart. After I switched to RO/DI the diatoms slowly went away. Although....if you like sponges and tunicates, silicates aren't necessarily a bad thing.

Yeah, I do an occasional water change with Tap water that has been aerated for 48 hours. Just to get some silicates and phosphates in there for the algaes and the sponges. About every 4th or 5th (or as I am poor and can't buy the RO).

WG

[kwjones]

WG...trust me, you're putting enough phosphates in your tank when you feed the fish.

[Boxster]

thanks folks

[Boxster]

im using tap water for now, but once i get to corals i plan on getting a ro sys

[Phishnoob]

I used tap water with Amquel then got the RO when my rock cured and did a lot of water changing.


On both of our tanks the diatom stage was only about a week. I used one of those gravel vacs and a turkey baster to blow it off the rocks, and sucked it all out of there.