Fairly new tank...algae starting to grow

[Sammi Mi]

My tank is about 2 months old now, and over the past week and a half I've begun to notice algea growing at a rather fast pace. I'm wondering if this algea is "good algae" or "nuisance algae"? Is there a way to tell the difference?
I have 4 fish: clown, orchid dottyback, 6 line wrasse and a scooter blenny.
Cuc: 2 nassariuss snail, 1 emerald crab, 1 sally lighfoot crab and 4 cerith snails(just added yesterday)
Parameters: ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 20ppm, pH 8.0 (been having a really hard time getting that above 8), calcium 410 ppm, alkalinity 13dkh, phosphate 1ppm(just put a phosguard in my canister yesterday)
Thanks!

 

[KJ]

Pre-Algae Cycle:

If your lights have not been setup yet do so now. Set your timers as you would for a reef tank. Anywhere from 6-12 hours is a good amount of time. Set the photoperiod to be on during the hours you will be viewing the tank most. If you work 2nd shift it is OK to have the lights come on after you get home from work or when you wake up in the morning. As long as there is not a supply of sunlight near the tank you wont have a long term battle with algae.

Stage 4: Diatoms

diatom algae image via reef2reef member @Steven R

Diatoms are a brown dusty life form that consumes silicates. There is no avoiding Diatoms during their initial bloom. Leave it be. Let it go crazy. Before you know it, the brown stuff will soon start to change colors. Generally red, this is the start of the next stage!

Stage 5: Cyanobacteria

cyanobacteria image via reef2reef member @Murfman

Cyanobacteria will now begin its course. Again you will let the slime just do its thing. This will be the nastiest of the stages. Cyanobacteria can gross some people out, especially if they catch a whiff of it. It is best to leave it be. It will start to clear up eventually. The clearing of the slime makes way for yet another stage.

Stage 6: Green/Brown algae

hair algae image via reef2reef member @johnmaloney

If you have made it this far, give yourself a round of applause. This is the final “battle” of the cycle process. When the slime is gone you will see your first signs of plant life, algae! Green Hair algae is usually the type that you see, but some other types have been known to occur. This stuff will grow like mad. At this point you are ready to move on to the next phase.

The cycle is a long process in terms of hobbies. Find yourself a good rhythm for testing. Get yourself in the habit of staring for long periods of time. Practice observation by watching as life forms start taking foot in the aquarium. You will see things from dust sized particles to worms that reach a foot long. There really is no telling what could form in your tank. This is a great time to prepare for the animals you will get. Knowing how to describe things and being able to correctly test the water will help you get the information you need. Your parameters are perfect now. You are now ready to move on to the next section. You should actually study the next section during your cycle, since you will have quite a bit of time on your hands with all that waiting.

Cycles can be artificially induced, but it is always preferred to use as little foreign liquids as possible. Another thing you can do during the cycle is preparing your clean up crew and first fish, but be prepared to keep them quarantined for a prolonged time since the cycle is unpredictable.

 

[Mike N]

Looks like diatom bloom. Thats very typical for new tanks.

 

[jsker]

Nailed it @KJ

Two months, is known as the ugly part of the cycle My present system is 2.5 years old and I still deal with mini cycles when I make changes

Check your phosphates and nitrates.

 

[Sammi Mi]

I do have my lights on a cycle, I have LED lights, nothing major, only 36 watts. I have white lights on for 8hrs a day and blue lights for 4hrs a day, the tank is in my dungeon (my bedroom, which is the basement)so, no natural sunlight at all.
Did I screw up by adding 4 fish so early? I added one, then a week later 1 more, then 2 a week after that. I thought it was safe to move forward, the initial cycle was complete.

 

[jsker]

I do have my lights on a cycle, I have LED lights, nothing major, only 36 watts. I have white lights on for 8hrs a day and blue lights for 4hrs a day, the tank is in my dungeon (my bedroom, which is the basement)so, no natural sunlight at all.
Did I screw up by adding 4 fish so early? I added one, then a week later 1 more, then 2 a week after that. I thought it was safe to move forward, the initial cycle was complete.

Ahhh If I my suggest, switching and running the blues 8 that the whites 4 to 5. Running the whites to long can cause algae to grow more. Wait two weeks to see if that makes a difference.

 

[KJ]

I do have my lights on a cycle, I have LED lights, nothing major, only 36 watts. I have white lights on for 8hrs a day and blue lights for 4hrs a day, the tank is in my dungeon (my bedroom, which is the basement)so, no natural sunlight at all.
Did I screw up by adding 4 fish so early? I added one, then a week later 1 more, then 2 a week after that. I thought it was safe to move forward, the initial cycle was complete.

Section 6: Live Stock

mixed reef image via reef2reef member @ReefMP

A few holidays have passed, you have gone through a few types of hairstyles, and the seasons have changed dramatically. Your aquarium has gone from an idea in your head to a flowing ecosystem of algae and rock. You need to get some critters in there! But where do you begin? There are more bad combinations of marine animals than flavors of ice cream. Luckily, there are Compatibility charts that do the vague guessing for you. Locate these charts to help you get a picture of what does and does not mix. Some fish are obvious. Mixing a shark and a seahorse are not a good idea. When you get into the fish of the reef there are some unexpected no-no’s. A huge tang could fall victim to even a small blenny bullying or nipping at him. Stocking will be more research than anything. It is improbable the part time employee at your LFS has a mental encyclopedia of everything they sell. Always check for yourself anyways. If you plan on having predator fish you can skip the clean up crew and corals since they will either get eaten or destroyed. Every animal you buy WILL NEED QUARANTINED.

Quarantine and Acclimation:

image via Advanced Aquarist

Quarantine tanks can be as simple as a bucket or you can setup a larger system if you plan to have larger fish. All the tank needs is flow, observation worthy light, and some hiding spots. You will want to use proven methods and avoid the herbal approaches like garlic.

Invertebrates (excluding corals) cannot be medicated. The can be carriers of parasites like ich that feed off fish. To prevent Ich from being transferred into your tank they will need to reside in a tank by themselves for 8 weeks. Keep the water aerated, give them some food now and then, and do periodic water changed to keep it fresh. It takes 8 weeks to starve the parasite. After that time period you can acclimate them into the aquarium.

Fish almost always have to be treated. Ich is present in most systems that deal with selling livestock. It is more cost efficient for them to leave the medicating up to you. There are a few trusted techniques for quarantine. Hyposalinity and copper treatment are the two most sure ways to kill anything that is not a fish.

Corals have their own predators as well. The first thing a lot of people do is dip their corals in a Lugol’s Solution, or Iodine. This disinfects them and often kills or irritates anything on them enough to jump off. Keeping them in quarantine until you are sure you rid any pests is very important or you risk growing these predators in your main system. Aptasia are another common hitch hiker. These can be injected with hot vinegar or lemon juice. What ever the problem, there is a solution. This is where your photography skills will first come into play when you are trying to identify problems. There are many methods of quarantine. Research the techniques and find one that is right for you. There will never be a perfect method for all. Ask your reef buddies how they approach certain problems. If you skip quarantine you may one day have to remove every animal in your tank later.

Acclimating livestock varies in time, but is the same as far as methods. It come in handy to have a large jar so you can view your animal. Simply siphon water from your display tank into the jar. You want to have an air valve or a knot so that the water drips into the container. To determine the acclimation time for your animal you can just look it up online, which you should know before purchasing.

 

[Sammi Mi]

Ahhh If I my suggest, switching and running the blues 8 that the whites 4 to 5. Running the whites to long can cause algae to grow more. Wait two weeks to see if that makes a difference.

Ok. Ill give that a try. Thank you!

 

[burden2626]

yes i think also its part of the algea cycling i had it thick brown coating qnd then it was gone in no time i thought it was bad but i left it alone and it went away on its own i got a tiger conch and some snails for the sand but pretty sure it would go away on its own just takes a little time

 

[burden2626]

i worried mabe it was the lights but i never changed them one other thing idk if it help but i built an algea scrubber and between my yellow tang i have no more algea if you have an hair algea problem ever try a lawn mower blenny mine ate it down to bare rock i lost him to a maxi mini carpet he would just eat and eat and didnt pay much atention to anything and got hit by the maxi so i trade maxi to a local store

 

[burden2626]

as for lights i run my 10 hours and only blue at night its a pain but i block out 75% of the blue light with peices of paper

 

[Sammi Mi]

yes i think also its part of the algea cycling i had it thick brown coating qnd then it was gone in no time i thought it was bad but i left it alone and it went away on its own i got a tiger conch and some snails for the sand but pretty sure it would go away on its own just takes a little time

After lots of research, tge amazingly helpful ppl on this forum and looking at pics, I'm sure myself that it is diatoms...just going through the last few phases of the cycle I guess. Glad to hear it goes away kinda quickly on its own.

 

[jsker]

Ok. Ill give that a try. Thank you!

You are welcome.

 

[The Mansion]

I do have my lights on a cycle, I have LED lights, nothing major, only 36 watts. I have white lights on for 8hrs a day and blue lights for 4hrs a day, the tank is in my dungeon (my bedroom, which is the basement)so, no natural sunlight at all.
Did I screw up by adding 4 fish so early? I added one, then a week later 1 more, then 2 a week after that. I thought it was safe to move forward, the initial cycle was complete.

 

[The Mansion]

I’ve heard having a tank in the basement is good but can be hard on ph. There is no air from the outside in a basement and especially if you have a tight lid they are basically like in a hot room with all the windows shut and no air flow. Open your lid and be careful observe don’t let anybody jump out. I would leave door down to basement open and open a couple windows upstairs for an hour a day.