Hello new here

okari82 · 05/09/2009, 08:53 AM

Hi Im new to this forum and wanted to say hi and ask a question.

I will say ive been in this hobby about 10 1/2 months now. I have a 26g tank thats been going since july 08. Its doing well I recently decided to go bigger and we now have a 75g with a 20L sump. I just started this tank in march so its been cycling for 2 months. I had not planed to add any fish until june after our vacation. Anyways ill give a post of paramiters and items in the tank and then ask my question

Peram.... 75g 20l sump

ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates <20
phos 0
temp 80
sg .025

Okay its been going with about 35 to 40lbs of lr *bought the last the store had waiting on more* and 60lbs of ls. It jsut recently *about a week ago* got the brown algae which i know is normal. However as of 2 days ago i now have green hair algae on the magnetic cleaner and the return tubes and on the back glass. I dont have anything in this tank yet and wonder what is going on with this ... i have read that it can be a normal thing to see in a newly cycling tank other then that its about tanks that have been going for a while. If this is normal fine ill let it run its course and keep up with the wipeing down and water changes each week. Now with the return pump i have i have to add 1 to 2 gallons of water every 2 days so the first two days i was adding in the fresh RO water the next two days id drain 3 to 4g and add fresh saltwater to keep things the same level at all times the sg has not changed from .025 since i started doing this about 3 weeks ago. I use the same water on my 26g and its fine no algae or problems so i dont think it is the salt or the water. Should i keep what im doing or go to adding the top off and once a week doing a bigger say 10g water change a week to try to fix the problem. i want to fix this soon and before i add livestock. I was told the water changes like i was doing *about every 4 days* total of 8g a week was okay others say bigger a week. any advice would be great and i hope i didnt miss anything. and sorry this is so long lol. thanks

i guess i could mention the lights are brand new there a extream nova 48in. has 2 10k bulb, and 2 460nm blue. and i have a msx160 skimmer in sump

Aquarist007 · 05/09/2009, 09:13 AM

The algae will come and go as the rock cures(releases dead matter). This dead matter causes the bacteria to cycle in your tank and break the matter down from ammonia to nitrates.
The fact that your nitrates are still high indicates that this process is still going on ---when the nitrates fall to zero your tank is cycled.
Adding more live rock the way you are doing will make this cycling last longer due to the new rock having to go through the process mentioned above.
So you will probably see more algae blooms.

As far as water changes you don't have to be so meticulous or elaborate here. Just monitor your ammonia levels---if they spike then do a 10 per cent water change and keep monitoring the level of ammonia. If it doesn't spike no need for a water change

To Reef Central

okari82 · 05/09/2009, 09:49 AM

well we wanted to go with what we had but they were out and i am thinking of moving a little rock from my 26g will there be a big cycle moving rock from one tank to another about 10 ft apart. I dont wanna prolong it but the piece i wanna move has mushrooms that migrated to that rock and so i didnt wanna move it to soon that and i have a few corals /zoas i wanna move as well that are on there own rocks. they wont be moved yet but im not sure more lr from the lfs is needed. What would u do . its been going it will eventually go down. Ive heard of people setting up a new tank with lr and lr and just moving all there old tank to the new one right away and such when the temp/sg and such matched but i dont wanna kill anything. i have been told it will start the cycle all over if i move from one tank to another. I wanna do things right and not kill everything. most of what i read is do water changes to get out nutrients but thats for tanks u are feeding and such and are going for a while. Ill just keep an eye on things. should the lights stay off or can they be on. does that matter.

thanks for the reply

*edit* i was also told nitrates will only be removed from water changes is why i had started them already. I havent had ammonia or nitrites for over a month.

Aquarist007 · 05/09/2009, 03:21 PM

wait til your nitrates are zero in the 75gal and then move everything over from the 26 gal --rocks coral ect. You will be fine.

okari82 · 05/09/2009, 03:30 PM

well i get what your saying im hoping by junethings will level out all im moving from the 26 is the urchin, some rocks that have corals, and a couple other corals tha have no rocks lol some will stay in the 26 i went from one tank to three. I like having them in more then one room of the house. thanks for the advice.

Aquarist007 · 05/09/2009, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by okari82
well i get what your saying im hoping by junethings will level out all im moving from the 26 is the urchin, some rocks that have corals, and a couple other corals tha have no rocks lol some will stay in the 26 i went from one tank to three. I like having them in more then one room of the house. thanks for the advice.

your welcome and good luck with the move

05/09/2009, 08:53 AM	#1
okari82 Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 5	Hello new here Hi Im new to this forum and wanted to say hi and ask a question. I will say ive been in this hobby about 10 1/2 months now. I have a 26g tank thats been going since july 08. Its doing well I recently decided to go bigger and we now have a 75g with a 20L sump. I just started this tank in march so its been cycling for 2 months. I had not planed to add any fish until june after our vacation. Anyways ill give a post of paramiters and items in the tank and then ask my question Peram.... 75g 20l sump ammonia 0 nitrites 0 nitrates <20 phos 0 temp 80 sg .025 Okay its been going with about 35 to 40lbs of lr bought the last the store had waiting on more and 60lbs of ls. It jsut recently about a week ago got the brown algae which i know is normal. However as of 2 days ago i now have green hair algae on the magnetic cleaner and the return tubes and on the back glass. I dont have anything in this tank yet and wonder what is going on with this ... i have read that it can be a normal thing to see in a newly cycling tank other then that its about tanks that have been going for a while. If this is normal fine ill let it run its course and keep up with the wipeing down and water changes each week. Now with the return pump i have i have to add 1 to 2 gallons of water every 2 days so the first two days i was adding in the fresh RO water the next two days id drain 3 to 4g and add fresh saltwater to keep things the same level at all times the sg has not changed from .025 since i started doing this about 3 weeks ago. I use the same water on my 26g and its fine no algae or problems so i dont think it is the salt or the water. Should i keep what im doing or go to adding the top off and once a week doing a bigger say 10g water change a week to try to fix the problem. i want to fix this soon and before i add livestock. I was told the water changes like i was doing about every 4 days total of 8g a week was okay others say bigger a week. any advice would be great and i hope i didnt miss anything. and sorry this is so long lol. thanks i guess i could mention the lights are brand new there a extream nova 48in. has 2 10k bulb, and 2 460nm blue. and i have a msx160 skimmer in sump __________________ 26g and 75g reefs Last edited by okari82; 05/09/2009 at 09:01 AM.

05/09/2009, 09:13 AM	#2
Aquarist007 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hamilton, Canada Posts: 28,240 Blog Entries: 1	The algae will come and go as the rock cures(releases dead matter). This dead matter causes the bacteria to cycle in your tank and break the matter down from ammonia to nitrates. The fact that your nitrates are still high indicates that this process is still going on ---when the nitrates fall to zero your tank is cycled. Adding more live rock the way you are doing will make this cycling last longer due to the new rock having to go through the process mentioned above. So you will probably see more algae blooms. As far as water changes you don't have to be so meticulous or elaborate here. Just monitor your ammonia levels---if they spike then do a 10 per cent water change and keep monitoring the level of ammonia. If it doesn't spike no need for a water change *To Reef Central* __________________ I prefer my substrates stirred but not shaken Current Tank Info: 150gal long mixed reef, 90gal sump, 60 gal refugium with 200 lbs live rock

05/09/2009, 09:49 AM	#3
okari82 Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 5	well we wanted to go with what we had but they were out and i am thinking of moving a little rock from my 26g will there be a big cycle moving rock from one tank to another about 10 ft apart. I dont wanna prolong it but the piece i wanna move has mushrooms that migrated to that rock and so i didnt wanna move it to soon that and i have a few corals /zoas i wanna move as well that are on there own rocks. they wont be moved yet but im not sure more lr from the lfs is needed. What would u do . its been going it will eventually go down. Ive heard of people setting up a new tank with lr and lr and just moving all there old tank to the new one right away and such when the temp/sg and such matched but i dont wanna kill anything. i have been told it will start the cycle all over if i move from one tank to another. I wanna do things right and not kill everything. most of what i read is do water changes to get out nutrients but thats for tanks u are feeding and such and are going for a while. Ill just keep an eye on things. should the lights stay off or can they be on. does that matter. thanks for the reply edit i was also told nitrates will only be removed from water changes is why i had started them already. I havent had ammonia or nitrites for over a month. __________________ 26g and 75g reefs Last edited by okari82; 05/09/2009 at 09:59 AM.

05/09/2009, 03:21 PM	#4
Aquarist007 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hamilton, Canada Posts: 28,240 Blog Entries: 1	wait til your nitrates are zero in the 75gal and then move everything over from the 26 gal --rocks coral ect. You will be fine. __________________ I prefer my substrates stirred but not shaken Current Tank Info: 150gal long mixed reef, 90gal sump, 60 gal refugium with 200 lbs live rock

05/09/2009, 03:30 PM	#5
okari82 Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 5	well i get what your saying im hoping by junethings will level out all im moving from the 26 is the urchin, some rocks that have corals, and a couple other corals tha have no rocks lol some will stay in the 26 i went from one tank to three. I like having them in more then one room of the house. thanks for the advice. __________________ 26g and 75g reefs