So my tank is about 3 weeks old and has finished cycling. I’ve had some brown algae that I was told no to worry about (diatoms = normal cycling tank) They haven’t increased but I have a bunch of new algae. It is bright green spots, pink spots and some slimy green/brown stuff. There is also some hair algae I think, tufts of grass looking stuff that is actually on the macro algae and the rock. I have not put anything in the tank except for one Mermaids Fan, one shaving brush and a few pieces of red gracilaria. I have not yet added a CUC, supposedly in the mail and nothing organic has been added. Nitrates are 20ppm, ammonia is 0 and specific gravity is 1.025. Lights are LED and are on for 10 hours a day. I am worried about the new new algae, especially the green tufts. Weird thing is how fast my mermaid fan is growing. I feel like I have very few nutrients but the fan already has 3 new sprouts and it’s only been in tank 2 weeks! Don’t need to worry and if so will the CUC crew be enough?
New tank, algae problem already!?!
- Thread starter Crocpete
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Andrew Schubert
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I've had my tank up and running so far for about 5 months. Only thing I've dealt with are diatoms which are just now finally going away. I'm sure its been helped my the uv sterilizer I just installed 2 weeks ago too. Anyways, my big issue has been keeping enough Nitrate in my tank. It seems no matter how much I feed or do my nitrates and phosphates are always 0. I am running a skimmer and have a refugium setup. I actually have never had any nitrates or phosphates in my system, b/c the refugium and protein skimmer are doing so good of job. It wasn't till this week I discovered having 0 nitrate and phosphates is actually a bad thing in a reef tank. So I purchased some 'stuff' to actually does nitrate into my tank.
Saying that, you may want to work on getting your nitrate even lower. Watch the video I posted below, and BRS recommends keeping Nitrates below 5ppm for any tank under 2 years. It's possible you are seeing these issues b/c your Nitrate is at 20ppm, and the tank hasn't had enough time to stabilize like a mature system would.
Saying that, you may want to work on getting your nitrate even lower. Watch the video I posted below, and BRS recommends keeping Nitrates below 5ppm for any tank under 2 years. It's possible you are seeing these issues b/c your Nitrate is at 20ppm, and the tank hasn't had enough time to stabilize like a mature system would.
Thanks for replies, I have the lights on a timer. Gets about 10 hours of light and at night the moonlight (blue) setting kicks on. I’ve been told that the tank will get some uglies, I just didn’t think this much this soon. I am using RODI water and instant ocean salt and have been testing water every 2 days. I added the macro algae about a week and a half ago. By no organics added I meant no fish food or inverts, etc. I could cut back on the lighting until the CUC arrives. Just don’t want the tank overwhelmed with algae if it can be helped by something I can do or just let nature take its course
Andrew Schubert
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Do you have any fish in it at all. If your just trying to cycle the rock I'd leave the lights off all together. I left mine cycling in darkness for 2 months before adding any fish or introducing the rock to light.
