Hi everyone. I am brand new to this hobby, having started my first tank about 10 days ago. I have been using this forum for research before I stated the tank and it has been a great resource. My tank is 20gallon, about 15lbs dry live rock, 20lbs live sand. I have a HOB power filter which I removed the carbon filter and was using it to break up the surface and grab big particles/debris. Also have a small powehead for water movement and a heater that keeps the tank at 78 average. Also have a programmable LED light setup. I have a RODI filter and Instant Ocean salt mix. I used Dr Tims ammonia & nitrifying bacteria and thought I was good to go. I used the API ammonia test but didn’t realize I had to wait 5 minutes! Two days after setup I thought my ammonia levels were around zero I added Purple Helix Corraline algae. Everything looked good until I tested again and actually waited the 5 minutes and realized my ammonia levels were actually 5ppm! Before this I added a mermaids tail, bottle brush and red gracililaria from an established tank. All of this within the first week! Big mistakes made, but my ammonia levels are now at 2ppm and I just added some Bio-spira nitrifying bacteria to get the levels down further. The day after adding the bio-spira I noticed small brown spots in the sand and on the rock. I don’t know what it is and I am very nervous I have some kind of evil bacteria or algal bloom starting! Any help or advice appreciated. Pics are below and I apologize for the long post. Thank you & look forward to hearing from you.
First time tank! Question/Problem!?!
- Thread starter Crocpete
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Oscaror
Back In It
Welcome to R2R! Looks to me like an algal bloom, aka. your tanks cyclingHi everyone. I am brand new to this hobby, having started my first tank about 10 days ago. I have been using this forum for research before I stated the tank and it has been a great resource. My tank is 20gallon, about 15lbs dry live rock, 20lbs live sand. I have a HOB power filter which I removed the carbon filter and was using it to break up the surface and grab big particles/debris. Also have a small powehead for water movement and a heater that keeps the tank at 78 average. Also have a programmable LED light setup. I have a RODI filter and Instant Ocean salt mix. I used Dr Tims ammonia & nitrifying bacteria and thought I was good to go. I used the API ammonia test but didn’t realize I had to wait 5 minutes! Two days after setup I thought my ammonia levels were around zero I added Purple Helix Corraline algae. Everything looked good until I tested again and actually waited the 5 minutes and realized my ammonia levels were actually 5ppm! Before this I added a mermaids tail, bottle brush and red gracililaria from an established tank. All of this within the first week! Big mistakes made, but my ammonia levels are now at 2ppm and I just added some Bio-spira nitrifying bacteria to get the levels down further. The day after adding the bio-spira I noticed small brown spots in the sand and on the rock. I don’t know what it is and I am very nervous I have some kind of evil bacteria or algal bloom starting! Any help or advice appreciated. Pics are below and I apologize for the long post. Thank you & look forward to hearing from you.
bsn_rn_cen
Grandmaster Algae Farmer
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Welcome to Reef2Reef.
reacclimating 2 the hobby
patience is... oh look an acro pack fs!
Welcome to R2R... second the comment of cycle
mta_morrow
Of course I have room for 1 more fish!
Hello and welcome to R2R!
Like some others have said, your tank is going thru the early maturing phase. Keep reading, Learning, and asking questions.
Like some others have said, your tank is going thru the early maturing phase. Keep reading, Learning, and asking questions.
IslandLifeReef
Valuable Member
Welcome to R2R!
I agree with the others, algae as part of your new tank. I'm sure you've noticed through your reading on tis forum that nothing good happens fast in saltwater. Slow down and don't look for shortcuts. I wouldn't plan on adding anything else to your tank for a few more weeks.
!!! Welcome to R2R !!! Like others advised, go slow to help the bacteria to populate. I did my cycling with Dr Tim bacteria and ammonia and I took 3 weeks before adding any life to the tank. Don't forget to post some picture of the whole tank and make you own Build Thread to keep track of your progress. Happy reefing !!!
Wow thanks for all the responses & encouragement! Going to take it slow now, I was just worried that the algae was a big problem due to something I did wrong! Thanks for the help & knowledge, ammonia levels already down to .5ppm. Getting there...
Teri NewbieReefer
Active Member
Hi and Welcome to R2R! Looks like you are off to a good start, and by listening to what these guys say, you’ll do fine. The people who post on here are the best!
So I think my tank has finished cycling. My ammonia levels are 0 ppm and nitrates are at 40ppm. I added 10 drops of Dr Tims ammonia and water tested at 0 ppm next day. I did a 20% water change today and nitrates down to 20ppm but unnoticed some stuff in the tank. I’ve had the brownish algae for about a week on the rock and sand but now I have pink and bright green spots on rock and sand. Is that normal? The brown algae pretty much settled down, hasn’t grown much but this pink & green stuff is new. I ordered some snails & hermit crabs from reefcleaners.org to start them eating some algae. Hopefully have them by next week.
JasonK84
I want more!!!
looks like the normal tank "uglies" that we all must endure when starting up a saltwater tank.So I think my tank has finished cycling. My ammonia levels are 0 ppm and nitrates are at 40ppm. I added 10 drops of Dr Tims ammonia and water tested at 0 ppm next day. I did a 20% water change today and nitrates down to 20ppm but unnoticed some stuff in the tank. I’ve had the brownish algae for about a week on the rock and sand but now I have pink and bright green spots on rock and sand. Is that normal? The brown algae pretty much settled down, hasn’t grown much but this pink & green stuff is new. I ordered some snails & hermit crabs from reefcleaners.org to start them eating some algae. Hopefully have them by next week.
You could post on the nuisance algae forum for assistance or algae ID.
Looks like cyano to me (at least the red does).
