yet another question
 

hi

I've got this tan colored stuff showing up on my substrait. It first started appearing on the gravel along the current flow. is it some form of algae?

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/sho...sort=1&cat=500

how do you do that i tried for like an hour :question:

pm sent

looks like diatoms is your tank new? if so then it's normal and will go away in time.

its about 3 1/2 weeks into the cycle and im a little unsure about what changes it will go through during this time as this is my first s/w tank

thanks much

well it's most likely diatoms then. they will go away after awhile. you will then start growing some filimatinous algae on things. that’s where your cleanup grew can help out, my 90 is a little over 3 months old and its just stating to settle down. my rocks and the backwall are starting to get covered in coraline.

That's very normal, so don't worry about it. The best thing for you to is just wait it out and don't do things to promote it. Diatoms feed on silicates that are present in the original water you used. It will pass once all of its food source is used up, so don't 'help' it by using tap water which contains silicates. Dechlorinating tap water will not remove silicates. If you're short on money, the 'least' you can do is make deionized water. Aquarium Pharmaceuticals makes a deionizing unit for 50-60 bucks and is available even at Big Al's as a last resort. This unit is generally good for 100 gallons and after that you have to replace the media. The 'best' you can do is to use the much talked about ro/di unit. It's about 80-100 US$ from Aquasafe(on ebay) plus 30.00 for shipping and it should give you atleast 1000 gallons from our half decent YVR water source. Using pure water for our tanks is the main reason for this ro/di craze going on currently. It helps because it's so affordable now.

yet again you guys are right. :biggrin: The diatoms are starting to turn green, im getting a furry algae growing on my live rock, ammona is at nil now, nitrates are on the decline and are now at 0.08 and is dropping daily,
algae forming on the glass tank walls,from what willow said i think its almost time for a clean up crew. What would you guys recomend as a good crew :question: type of hermet? type of snails? and what others would be good for clean up?


thanks again
Justin

snails. Astreas, and lots of them.