Does this look ok??

Hi
Attached a few pics of my 19 days old tank. I'm not sure what this carpet like growth is on the LR. I have had a few good responses but thought it might be a good idea to let you all see it as well.

My lights are 2X150 MH at 14K each.I keep them on 10-11 hrs a day. This dark yellowish brown color is also now showing on the dead sand bed in certain areas. This growth is catching speed and growing darker everyday.What is it? It has been almost two weeks since I put the LR in.There was close little activity and this spurt started around four days back. This LR is from the Indian Ocean, south of India...I don't know what the actual type would be.

Ammonia is zero, nitrite is very high,nitrate is pretty low after a 20% water change yesterday.Please advice.

Also if I could get an idea about the way I have stacked the LR. Does it look feasible?

Thanks.
Zubin

 

Your still cycling so your not supposed to do any water changes or run the lights for so long. Keep in mind that cycling sometimes lasts 2-3 months. Your NH3, NO2 and NO3 are going to be swinging up and down until you finish the cycling process. BTW, welcome aboard mate.

 

thanks buddy,can you throw some light on the colour change of the lr....is it normal or could it be an algae bloom...maybe even diatom...!

 

its just part of the cycling process.any rock you put in there will do that for awhile.after the cycle is over you can put a cleaning crew in there to clean it all up.having a large tank can take a little longer to cycle than the nano tanks.

 

Welcome to 3Reef>>>>>>Hang in there... We've all been through it.. Nice tank..

 

thanks pal...just one question...what is causing the dark yellow colour on the sand bed?should i keep the lights off?

 

that's just more algae issues.... I kept my lights on while mine cycled.. you could cut your lights down to about 6 hours a day and that would help also... Both tanks I've cycled had major hair algae blooms. Let me find you a pic.. I used a sea hare to help with my algae until the cycle ended.. My little 5.5 gal needed a sea hare for only about 5 days to solve my problem...

[img=http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/615/picture464ts4.th.jpg]
[img=http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/4438/picture463mp5.th.jpg]

 

thanks pal...thats a lot of stress off my head..anyother tips you could give me at this stage would be really appriciated...

 

Be prepared to go through a number of different algae cycles as your tank matures. Is normal.

That brown stuff is diatoms and much will go away by itself. Once you can get some hermit crabs in there, they will clean up rest.

Be patient and enjoy watching changes!!!

Good Luck.

 

My tank was born on 1/3 and I have yet to put a light on... and my tank is amazingly clean. Absolutley no major algae at all. My clowns just go by day and night, and they are doing great. They say that lights on during the cycle will help algae growth tremendously. I also haven't done any water changes. All my levels are getting close, nitrates still a little high but that will change with time. Doing nothing but daily feedings and watching my tank (tested once a week ago just for fun!) Just what has worked so far for me...