kck@mips.COM (Ken Klingman) (01/18/90)
I'm a beginner to marine tanks and am currently in the 3rd week
of conditioning a new 55 gallon tank. We started with washed,
crushed coral, some cup rock (tufa?) for aesthetics, a trickle
filter, and 10 damsel fish. The ammonia and nitrite levels
are climbing nicely, as expected, and after some initial fish
loss (bought 4 from a seedy looking dealer and I suspect those
are the ones that died) and replacement all fish are looking
pert and chipper and are eating well.
I have two questions:
In the past few days the tank has developed multiple blooms of
what I suppose to be brown algae on the front glass (actually
plexi). There's about a dozen spots, each the size of a nickel.
Is this to be expected? Should I clean the glass? There seems
to be a fair growth of the same stuff on the crushed coral as
well. Should I worry? Incidentally, until I can finish a fancy
hood with lots of light I'm temporarily running 2 24" random
flourescent fixtures just sitting atop the tank.
The water is not crystal clear. The only filtration I'm running
is some pre-filter material at the top of trickle filter. I
think I eventually want to put in a foam fractionator since
from what I've heard it's a "good thing", but there's too much
variety available and I think maybe I should build one because
they cost a bunch and I've already sunk a fortune into this
thing. I've been thinking that a simple cannister filter with
activated charcoal filtering the sump in the trickle filter would
do the job of clearing the water in the meantime. Comments?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Ken Klingman MIPS Computer Systems, Inc.
kck@mips.com 928 Arques Avenue
{uunet,decwrl,pyramid,ames}!mips!kck Sunnyvale, California 94086
(408)991-7826alien@cpoint.UUCP (Alien Wells) (01/18/90)
In article <34603@mips.mips.COM> kck@mips.COM (Ken Klingman) writes: $In the past few days the tank has developed multiple blooms of $what I suppose to be brown algae on the front glass (actually $plexi). There's about a dozen spots, each the size of a nickel. $Is this to be expected? Should I clean the glass? There seems $to be a fair growth of the same stuff on the crushed coral as $well. Should I worry? This is perfectly normal. Brown slime algae is the first to appear. It really doesn't matter too much what you do it it (as long as you don't try to remove it from the tank), cleaning it off the glass will just cause it to move elsewhere. This slime algae will eventually cover everything. If your water quality is good, it will gradually be replaced by bright green algae. You will have to regularily clean any glass surfaces you want kept clear (for viewing). Don't worry. The algae shows that your tank is cycling. The end result of the biological filtration of fish waste is nitrate, which is a fertilizer. This causes the algal bloom. The algae actually work to keep down the nitrate level and will provide some nibbling food for any herbiverous fish you get (tangs, angels, etc). The only tanks you want kept clear of microalgae (slime algae, the stuff you are getting ...) are mini-reef tanks where the algae will choke off a lot of the inverbs and macro-algae. >The water is not crystal clear. The only filtration I'm running >is some pre-filter material at the top of trickle filter. I >think I eventually want to put in a foam fractionator since >from what I've heard it's a "good thing", but there's too much >variety available and I think maybe I should build one because >they cost a bunch and I've already sunk a fortune into this >thing. I've been thinking that a simple cannister filter with >activated charcoal filtering the sump in the trickle filter would >do the job of clearing the water in the meantime. Comments? This I don't understand. When I set up my current tank, the trickle filter cleared up the tank in about an hour (it generally used to take overnight with a UGF setup). Your tank has not been running long enough to develop a buildup of complex proteins (which would cause a yellowish tinge, and would be taken care of by a protein skimmer), and I generally don't recommend the addition of carbon filtration (others will disagree here). You may be having a (harmless) bacterial bloom, which can cause the water to take on a white cloudy appearance. This is common for cycling tanks, and is nothing to be worried about. If this is the case, it should disappear by itself in perhaps a weak. -- --------| I die ... you die ... we all die ... Alien | - the Heavy Metal movie --------| decvax!frog!cpoint!alien bu-cs!mirror!frog!cpoint!alien
daq@hpfcso.HP.COM (Doug Quarnstrom) (01/19/90)
>/ hpfcso:alt.aquaria / kck@mips.COM (Ken Klingman) / 10:51 am Jan 17, 1990 / >I have two questions: >In the past few days the tank has developed multiple blooms of >what I suppose to be brown algae on the front glass (actually >plexi). There's about a dozen spots, each the size of a nickel. >Is this to be expected? Should I clean the glass? There seems >to be a fair growth of the same stuff on the crushed coral as >well. Should I worry? Incidentally, until I can finish a fancy >hood with lots of light I'm temporarily running 2 24" random >flourescent fixtures just sitting atop the tank. I would not be too worried about this brown algae. It showed up in my tank too. Actually this stuff is probably bacterial. In the long run, it will probably turn into blue green encrusting algae when your cycle is farther along if you have the correct light quality. Don't ask me what that is. Now, people tend to dislike both brown and blue green encrusting algae, especially people who are trying to grow macro algaes. Sometimes you get these encrusting types, and I think that phosphates are part of the problem. This problem can be exacerbated by the calcerous media such as crushed coral. Many aquarists are moving away from crushed coral as a media, but I don't know what to reccommend. >The water is not crystal clear. The only filtration I'm running >is some pre-filter material at the top of trickle filter. I >think I eventually want to put in a foam fractionator since >from what I've heard it's a "good thing", but there's too much >variety available and I think maybe I should build one because >they cost a bunch and I've already sunk a fortune into this >thing. I've been thinking that a simple cannister filter with >activated charcoal filtering the sump in the trickle filter would >do the job of clearing the water in the meantime. Comments? I think that if your trickle filter is working properly, you should not need a cannister to keep your water clear. My wate is real clear, and I only have a trickle. Ok, to be honest, I recently added a foam fractioner and ozone generator, but it was clear before that. You may want to give it awhile. Is the water colored, or is there crap floating around in it? Foam fractioners are a great deal as far as I can tell. I HIGHLY suggest that you get Martin Moe's new book. It deals with reef tanks, but the information it has on new aquarium gadgets is very valuable. >Thanks in advance for any help. >Ken Klingman MIPS Computer Systems, Inc. >kck@mips.com 928 Arques Avenue {uunet,decwrl,pyramid,ames}!mips!kck Sunnyvale, California 94086 (408)991-7826 ---------- Doug Quarnstrom