Algae bloom just after cycling

Discussion in 'Algae' started by gamma, Apr 4, 2004.

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  1. david7700

    david7700 Flamingo Tongue

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2007
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    Location:
    East Lansing, MI
    It's been one month for me, with regular topoffs and no water changes. I still have alot of brown and some green algae on my sand, but I just noticed a couple purple spots! Oh yeah!
    I hope this won't go away if I leave the lights off for a couple days, will it? the brown (diatom) algae goes away after extended periods of darkness..
     
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  3. Bogie

    Bogie Snowflake Eel

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    Feb 7, 2008
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    2,350
    Location:
    CT
    I got 10 big snails that bury themselves in the live sand. They moved stuff around and took care of 95% of the diatoms (brown algae) within less than a week. Now they go after the seaweed sheets that I put out for the blue tang, and they come out of the sand everytime they smell that I am feeding mysis shrimp. They also quickly move in on any undigested "poop" my anemone spits out when done with it. I got that on film on my wife's camera - which is MIA at the moment.
     
  4. Jason McKenzie

    Jason McKenzie Super Moderator

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    Ok wait a seconfdthis thread is from April 2004
     
  5. StingRayNet

    StingRayNet Plankton

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2009
    Messages:
    20
    Purple Fuzz

    First time posting. Set up 28 Gallon Nano Cube with HQI Lights. Tank is now 2 months old. I have two problems.
    1) Getting Green alage on glass that needs to be cleaned daily. This can't be normal?
    2) Have a "Purple Fuzz" on one of my Live Rocks. Looks nice but what is it?
     

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  6. 1RESTLESSNATIVE

    1RESTLESSNATIVE Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    May 27, 2009
    Messages:
    74
    Location:
    Melbourne, Fl
    I have been battling hair algae and 6 weeks ago did a complete tank upgrade/swap. I am getting green algae on the glass and a air coating on the sand bed. The lanmower blemmy nips at it (i can see his little bite marks on the back glass) and the cuccumber blazes trails in the sand cleaning it great. I am wondering if this is normal growth for a semi-new or recycling tank swap? I am also noticing various other colors of algae growth, on some rocks. Some are deep red almost purple, some are bright green and some appear a whitish crust? Any thoughts on this?
     
  7. newsaltcity

    newsaltcity Plankton

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    Jul 17, 2009
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    I have been reading about people going through the same stuff I am presently starting to go through in the form of an algae growth. I set my tank up 8 days ago, (I cheated and bought pre mixed/ pre cycled water from a local company). The water was delivered on Thursday of last week and I was told to go buy damsels on Friday. I had purchased 2 damsels as instructed and they are doing great. I purchased the tank and all the equiptment second hand. The live Fiji rock was dead from sitting in a box in a garage for 4 months prior to being purchased. I soaked it overnight in fresh water as told and then put it in the tank. I was talking to a local shop owner the other day and after explaining where I was at in the cycle I was told to purchase a few pounds of live Fiji rock to seed my presently dead rock. As of today (approx. 4 days later) I started seeing brown algae on the rocks and the live sand. The anemones (?) growing on the live rock I bought are doing great which surprises me. I do have a great filter setup,plenty of water movement from the 2 powerheads and a protein skimmer which I cleaned the other day as it needed, but right now it is completely clean as if it is not working (I know it is). I am waiting to finish cycling the tank before installing my de-nitrator. I was told when the water was delivered that the light setup which I bought, although a very expensive setup has old bulbs and that this could cause future algae blooms. I did not think it would happen this fast!! Here is what I know I am doing wrong based in what I have read on here: I am (was) overfeeding,overlighting and using old bulbs. I have to find out what types of bulbs I need to buy. They are 65w, 12000k and 65w actinic as well as 8 blue night time LEDS. I will say that my levels have all been right on the money thus far and they are just starting to increase so I am on my way to a useful, running bio filter. I would say with my levels where they are my tank will support some much needed "cleaners". What do I buy right now to help "munch" this tank back into perfect health? I was told with the water I bought I would be ready for fish in anywhere from 10 to 30 days. I would like something that looks pretty cool as well as functions, so what types of crabs shrimp snails do I get and how many should I start with now? I apologize for the lengthy reply, but I am new to this and dont know what info is needed to help with a reply. Thanks much.
     
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  9. johnmaloney

    johnmaloney 3reef Sponsor

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    2,269
    no such thing as pre-cycled water, there is no beneficial bacteria in the water column, it is confined to surface area really, (lives on surfaces). If it was delivered even more issues...Sounds like diatoms, bulb wouldn't matter. Rinsing rock with FW was a really bad idea...post your parameters, only when it is cycled will it be cycled... I think the others would agree here that you have gotten some pretty bad advice so far....anemones in a new tank? Keep an eye on them, unless they are aiptasia they are not going to like being cycled around, or high nitrates. Denitrators are mostly a waste of money, nitrates get handled pretty well with biological filtration in a mature tank, which would also have an impact on phosphates... some people like them though. Kind of old tech...Spending the money on rock would be a much better investment, or grab a ball of chaeto from someone, I would tke a chaeto ball over a denitrator anyday.
     
  10. newsaltcity

    newsaltcity Plankton

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2009
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    2
    Thanks for the reply. Yes I have been given a ton of conflicting information. I am presently running my coil denitrater about half the day and I have added a 3rd power head into the tank. Part of the day it is a power head and the other part it works as the pump for my denitrater. Should I stop using the denitrater and just use that power head for water movement? As for the Anenome in the tank, it turns out it is a zoanthid and with regards to adding it to a new tank, I did not. I did not buy it, nor did I notice it hitchhiking on the live rock I bought. It was just little bumps at the time which I thought was the shape of the rock. When it opened up I was grateful that it was not aiptasia, but since it was a desireable and free I decided to leave it and see how it works out. So far so good... With regards to water quality and levels: My nitrate and ammonia spike was very minor (as I was told it would be from the place I bought the water). Presently I have done my first water change, my levels are great (gravity=1.021, nitrate-nitrogen=2 and total nitrate= 20, ammonia =0 and ph= 8.3.) I have 4 fish that call my tank home, they are a dwarf lion (fuzzy) an ocellaris clown, a domino damsel and a blue devil damsel. My tank is about a month old, my levels have been consistently good for at least 2 1/2-3 weeks and I would say it is well on its way to being cycled. I am checking my levels once a day unless I see something I am unhappy with then I will check it a second time or bring a water sample to a LFS and get a second opinion. I have added a torch coral, another zoanthid and a small polyp. I noticed this morning that I have a few very small green algae spots. This is growing on my live rock only. It actually looks good, but is it? It is a bright green (almost flourescent). If it is bad, will my clean up crew deal with it or should I go buy something that eats green algae? If so what is recommended? Thanks