I Need A Dermatologist "help"

[newfishliny]

OH MY GOD MY ROCKS ARE FULL OF BROWN ALGAE,
WHATS GOING ON, THEY WHERE NICE LOOKING ROCK.
DO I have to much light or not enough or time for a water
change . going thru 4th week of cycle.
Don LI/NY

 

[michaeltx]

sounds like diatoms to me
did they just start appearing and are covering everything?
if they are diatoms then this is part of the cycle and will pass.
Mike

 

[newfishliny]

what are diatoms thanks

 

[erikandstacie]

It's a type of algae. It's usually one of the first to appear. It's both good and normal. It's not a bad thing. It means that conditions are right for growing algae. It'll make way for other forms of more desireable algae. If it bothers you, you can get a crew of Mexican Turbo Snails, and they'll clean it right up. I put 12 in my 75 gallon, and within a week it was all gone.

 

[conk]

My tank just went through the diatom stage and after three weeks fo water changes once a week, decreaseing the amount of time the light is on and less feeding it is back to normal. I also am using a piece of phosphate filter that I put on top of my sumps filter once a week and bingo. Its great.
Just be patient. This is the hard part.

 

[newfishliny]

thanks guys I guess Im on the right track or my cycle is,
there is one problem there are 2 triggers in the tank if I put in snails is hell going to break loose.
thanks

 

[glinton]

I don't know how hermit crabs do with triggers, but I had the same problem and put in about 10 blue leg hermits in my 30 and they had the major stuff gone almost overnight and then a week later the tank looked spotless!
BTW, how would tangs and snails not get along? I have never heard of that.

 

[broomer5]

Don,
What are you doing having 2 triggers in a 4 week old tank ?

 

[newfishliny]

Originally posted by broomer5
Don,
What are you doing having 2 triggers in a 4 week old tank ?

Broomer the store where I bought my sand / live rock
told me to cycle the tank with triggers , there both about 3 inches.
He said they are hardy fish, also they are eating very good and seem in good shape for what I can see. I will test my tank today give you the readings later on. just to let you know my tank is a 90 gal , 2 802 power heads and a wet dry at this time . titantium heater . next will be the protein skimmer , as once before I said my tank will not be a full blown reef. But your question was what about the triggers * thats what he suggested , we will see what happens.
Don LINY

 

[saltywashington]

I second that. To think that all I used were a few $2.00 damsels to cycle my tank. That sucks I hope they make it through and they are fish you want to keep.

 

[ophiura]

I hope you have found another LFS. At the very least, ask all questions here or find the answers in books, and go in armed with info. Don't trust them from this point on. What else do you want to put in there with 2 triggers? (what are they by the way?). Did this person say they would buy a trigger back? 2 triggers in a 90 g tank might get crowded, assuming you want other aggressive fish.
As for the algae, it is quite normal. Learn to recognize it. A cycling tank is very unstable, and lots of things "bloom" to make use of the available nutrients. We want a bacterial bloom to colonize the filters (if running a wet dry type of system). Algal blooms occur as other nutrients (like nitrate, a fertilizer) comes into play. Once the tank cycles, and these nutrients are no longer at high levels, the algae will die off. However, this slime type algae will turn up again, and is usually a good indicator of time to do a water change, check parameters, even think about how old the light bulbs are! It is a first lesson in learning to read the tank.