roger saltwaters
Active Member
Just purchased a 45 gallon tank. So far I have live sand and live rock. After a few days I added a small clown and a royal gramma. They seem super happy but I'm having a little bit of an algae bloom.
Hi everybody. Total newb here.
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Have you been testing, assuming you know what the cycle process is? You shouldn't see much of a cycle since you introduced live substrate, but it may have been a bit early for fish. I would test closely, maybe add a bottle of bacteria, and proceed accordingly. Welcome!
OP
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roger saltwaters
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Yeah the LFS store had me add a bottle of bacteria. Can't remember what brand. I know it was early for fish but I couldn't stand it anymore.Have you been testing, assuming you know what the cycle process is? You shouldn't see much of a cycle since you introduced live substrate, but it may have been a bit early for fish. I would test closely, maybe add a bottle of bacteria, and proceed accordingly. Welcome!
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haha we all know the feeling, but you better shake that impatience while theres little at risk. When you start investing in more expensive fish or coral it will bite you in the butt big time. Take it slow, once things get balanced and settled in then you can start getting crazy. The last thing you want to do is invest your money in a bunch of livestock and your tank have an outbreak of "who knows what" and it kill everything off. It naturally discourages people from staying in the hobby. 
OP
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roger saltwaters
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Yeah I think I'll be ok for a while. As long as something is moving in there I'm good.
What's a good way to get rid of this algae?
What's a good way to get rid of this algae?
zoomonster
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Even with a good bacterial product (and if sand/rock was really live) its probably 2-3 weeks for it to be fully cycled and that means zero ammonia and zero nitrites after they have at least slightly spiked. If you are getting a first bloom (even just brown stuff on sand) or its only been a few days its probably not cycled and may just be starting. Assuming the bottle was not add it all at once and you are adding it daily maybe the fish will survive.
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Well, a cleanup crew... Meaning snails, crabs, etc. But like @zoomonster said, I doubt this system is truly cycled yet. You need to test it rigorously. Inverts are very unforgiving during the cycling process where as some fish are very hardy, like a clown fish. I wouldn't add any cleaners until you know for sure the system has cycled.
ScottMyers123
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Welcome to R2R! I would keep an I on your fish and test your water. If you see any ammonia I would remove fish because any traces of ammonia can be deadly to your fish.
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roger saltwaters
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Ok I've been testing the ammonia and it shows up on the test but tests very low. Same with nitrates.
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Are you using API test kits?
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roger saltwaters
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No. Red Sea.
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Good deal. It may be going through a mini cycle. Your levels may not rise to the extent that they would with dry rock, but keep an eye on it. It will probably transition from ammonia, nitrite, nitrate faster than usual as well. As long as your fish are eating and appear to be ok, i'd leave it as is until you're detecting no ammonia or nitrite. When you have just nitrate, do a water change and add your inverts for clean up.
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+1
Going slow is the single best thing you can do for your reef. Look up most tank failures and they will have one commonality - rushed beginnings.
If you let it be, the beginning is the best time for a reef. You get to watch things unfold virtually from scratch!
From first rock to first fish should take at least several weeks, maybe a few months or even longer.
Try to space out your major livestock (corals, fish, etc) by months as well....gives you ample time to get to know the new critter and assess any problems - either with the critter, or with his impact on the tank. Both are crucial for you to succeed.
OP
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roger saltwaters
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Ok sounds great. Apart from the algae everything looks perfect. I might dim the lights for a day or two.
OP
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roger saltwaters
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Yeah I don't really plan on adding anything else for a while.
Kungpaoshizi
Valuable Member
Greetings!
And yes, that's part of the start of a tank, pretty usual. Manually remove what you can every few days, otherwise start reading!
There's quite a few ways to approach long-term algae maintenance.
And yes, that's part of the start of a tank, pretty usual. Manually remove what you can every few days, otherwise start reading!
There's quite a few ways to approach long-term algae maintenance.
