new guy

[aloredo]

just put my new saltwater tank together and its been cycling fine have 9 damsels and some live rock. I just noticed today that i have this rusty looking substance appearing on sand and rock is this normal?:notsure:

 

[salty cheese]

Welcome

Sounds like diatoms to me. They will go away after awhile, just part of the cycle.

 

[big911dog]

um, how long have u been cycling? and what r ur readings. if its brown, could be a diatom bloom. if its red and slimy sounds like cyano.
if u could provide some more info on ur tank history and parameters it would help.
and Welcome to the Boards!

 

[aloredo]

well thanks for welcoming me to da board and its a 75 gallon bowfront and its been cycling for about 2week and 1 day:thinking:

 

[viet-tin]

Only 2 weeks and 1 day and you alreadyhave fish in there?:nope: Not a good idea...basically your putting them through hell. You should wait until your parameters are perfect before adding anything to the tank. A cycle should take atleast a month. Im not hear to sound mean but just to inform you about keeping your fish while your tank cycles. I hope youll enjoy boards and wish you luck in swf keeping.

 

[aloredo]

thats what da guy at that petstore told me to do. I thought i was just supposed to cycle da water for a month but he said that i can put damsels. i told him that even da book i read said to cycle just da water. wish i found this board before i started :nervous:

 

[jnc]

Looks like you're doing well then... Diatoms are a natural part of the cycle...
As Big911Dog says... Red would indicate cyno, which is nothing to get "too" excited about at this point but something that you would want to eliminate. It would appear like a red film, possibly with hair-like extensions...
But... If it's just brown diatoms, you're golden and on track... Start picking out your cleanup crew!

(but I wouldn't order just yet...)

 

[jnc]

viet-tin is correct in that it is hard on the fish and some may die. A lot of LFS will recommend the route of cycling with fish. Not that I want to see a fish suffer, but if it has to happen, I'd rather it was a damsel...

 

[jnc]

OH! And welcome to the board!