brown algea

i have been cycleing my tank with about 60 lbs of lr and some hermits and damsels. just had a 40 watt 50/50 on it . but just removed it to put in a dual 96 pc on it. and wham after 2 days all my live rock is covered with brown ugly algea. is that bad? or is that part of the process. if it is bad how do i take care of it. i wanna start addind some easy to take care of coral. is it too soon?

 

It's probably diatoms and it's part of the process. I wouldn't consider adding corals until your tank has been fully cycled for at least 3 months.

 

so its not a bad thing. my lfs said i may have to pull all the live rock. he said it was ruined. i bet he just wanted to make a few more bucks off of me.

 

I agree diatom is part of the normal process. I've had my tank for a year now and I still go though diatom out breaks 8)

 

[quote author=tresguey link=board=General;num=1097677374;start=0#2 date=10/14/04 at 00:59:06]i bet he just wanted to make a few more bucks off of me.[/quote]

I'll bet that he did

 

thanks guys you saved me money. at the same time i learned something

 

It sounds to me like you are right on schedule, tresguey, your LFS wants your money but as a result of the knowledgable crew here at 3reef you know more than the LFS. [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

I am experiencing the middle of the first diatom bloom (tank is 2.5 months into cycle, and my LFS was trying to tell me to add corals...I think I will wait until the tank is at least three if not four months into the cycle and the first algae blooms have run their course). I added some Astrea snails, and will be adding a few Cerith snails (both snail types are happily munching away at the diatom algae) to help and I am waiting for the next bloom which if I am not mistaken will be a green turf algae. The turf algae will provide a food source for some of the desirable critters that will help the tank come alive (copepods, amphipods and the like).  8)

I think this is the point where I will need to watch out for the green hair algae which will grow if there is a high nutrient (nitrate) source in the water column. Both the diatom and the turf algaes use the nitrate as a food source so I am seeing a drop in nitrates as a result of their bloom. (It helps that I am using RO/DI water and there are no nitrates being added to the tank.)

[move][glow=blue,2,300]Welcome to 3Reef, tresguey!![/glow][/move]

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Drew