jason7504 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 ok i will...i have a big green hair algae bloom on my rocks too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Turn your lights off (except when you want to watch inside). They are not needed for cycling, and they only encourage the green hair algae. Now that your cycle is almost over... What do you want to buy first? dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadReefer Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I don't think you should turn off your lights. But if you have green algae, get some snails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I don't think you should turn off your lights. But if you have green algae' date=' get some snails.[/quote'] I agree, you can also try sea hare's or maybe lawnmower. Sea hare might be best bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 if you are just completing your cycle, don't put a sea hare in your tank. It will probably die. I would put a few snails in the tank and maybe some blue leg hermits. See if they all survive, then throw in a fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 if you are just completing your cycle' date=' don't put a sea hare in your tank. It will probably die. I would put a few snails in the tank and maybe some blue leg hermits. See if they all survive, then throw in a fish.[/quote'] Good point, didn't think about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Yeah, sea hares are pretty delicate. If you do decide on a sea hare, get one of the blue spotted ones. I know Nick at RoseCity has them, that's where I got mine, and they really do eat a lot of algae. I have always used snails and hermits as the first additions to my new tanks. They are cheap and good indicators of water quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Jason, can you get a picture of the algae? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I don't think you should turn off your lights. But if you have green algae' date=' get some snails.[/quote'] If there is nothing in there except rock, why have the light on? Turn it off to stop the algae from growing. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Good point Dsoz, I also saw the blue dot hares at Upscale. Actually picked one up there. Nice size for a nice price. IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 If there is nothing in there except rock, why have the light on? Turn it off to stop the algae from growing. dsoz One day your going to have to turn the lights on, and then those nutrients will have built up and you will still have the same problem, if not larger. IME it is much easier to deal with an algae problem in an empty tank then one that is fully stocked. Getting things under control now, could mean better husbandry later. If he gets the CUC going, he can always cut back on food introduced now. Tougher to do when you have fish in the tank, or corals that need food. If his clean up crew tackles the job then he can begin feeding more and more until he is feeding for his expected bioload and everything is under control. While turning the lights off may kill most of the algae now, those nutrients are just building up in the system and spreading spores, planting seeds for later problems. Unless you ahve things setup to remove them your just delaying addressing the problem IMHO. JMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 One day your going to have to turn the lights on' date=' and then those nutrients will have built up and you will still have the same problem, if not larger. [/quote'] That is why he should use a skimmer and do water changes... Two very large water changes a couple of days apart after the rock is done with the initial cycle will remove almost all the nutrients from the water, and the second one will allow some of the nutrients that have built up in the rock to be removed. The only thing that snails do is turn the algae into snail poo which turns back into nutrients for more algae growth. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadReefer Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Yep, Snails and crabs should be able to handle it. And if you get it under control now with the lights on, you are less likely to have to turn the lights off after you add coral to control an algae problem. Also, there might be some cool macro algae that grows out of the rock when no fish are around to eat it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadReefer Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Much of what the snails eat will not be poo, they hold on to some of it. Edit-- although I agree that water changes should be done for the mass die off on new rock. This will happen in the first 1-3 weeks and then after that it should not be mass die off and rotting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 That is why he should use a skimmer and do water changes... If you'll give me a quarter for every thread I can link where people have skimmers, do water changes and still have hair algae, I could retire. If his skimmer was pulling out the nutrients then this thread would have never been born. If the he's not using a skimmer, then he's still in the same boat needing a cuc to help to break down the algae and other nutirents. Part of setting up a tank is the cycle, the next part is letting it mature a bit and get stable. IMO this part entails enlisting a CUC, and then letting the other natural elements surface and take hold. This will include various species of pods, worms, snails, and an increase in bacteria population, things that will just pop up, or you can always add them. If your really fond of the water change as being the answer I would do four days with no lights then a 100% change. Four days should be long enough to kill the algae, it will release it's nutirents and spores back into the tank, the 100% water change would almost all of them except those that settle into the rock. It's not like there is stock that would be shocked be a large change. Even if you went this route, IME your still going to have algae problems down the road until the rest of the elements are stable and in place. IMHO I have had better succsess taking things slow and letting the tank get nice and mature before stocking. When I setup my 65g I went two months with no fish or corals, and then another 3 months with just a bicolor blenny. Then I started stocking the tank. Stoked on the results. I go a bit slower then most, but I like the results I get. JME Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadReefer Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Part of setting up a tank is the cycle, the next part is letting it mature a bit and get stable. IMO this part entails enlisting a CUC, and then letting the other natural elements surface and take hold. Very good info here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 doesn't it take a few days to see ammonia? yeah i was planning on getting my CUC started, start my skimmer, and get some chateo for my fuge once i was done cycling..i plan on getting a cerith snail, astera, nass and nerite snail at first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadReefer Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Chaeto can be added at anytime. It will have a lot of good stuff to help cycle faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 ive always been told not to run a skimmer or fuge til after the cycle.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadReefer Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 The only reason for this is so that bacteria have a chance to grow at a maximum rate. If you have chaeto in the system it will take ammonia out of the system so less bacteria will grow. The problem is that if you have hair algae, it is doing the same thing but in a bad way because you don't want hair algae. Another bonus to chaeto is that it will bring bacteria and pods and other good stuff into the system. I was always told that once any algae of any kind starts to grow on the rock, it is time to start adding snails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 im going to start adding some snails now that my ammonia and nitrites are 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadReefer Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Cycling a reef tank is not so much science as art. Some say it doesn't need to cycle at all if you add LR. Some say it takes less than a week to stabilize. I feel it's not about cycling but giving an opportunity for the little stuff to grow. Pods, macro algae, sponges, and other hitchhikers take time to grow and it's that stuff that you want to give time. If you used quality live rock you were probably ready for life sometime the first week. Also, I think a skimmer should be run from day one. JMO Edit- I wanted to add- The reason to run the skimmer, fuge and lights from sometime in the first week is to give the life in there a better chance to live. Same reason to do water changes, you don't want to poison the life that is on the rock with the dead rotting life on the rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 but then the skimmer removes the organic waste so the bacteria dont have enough to process..wouldn't that mess with the cycle? i had 1 ppm ammonia for a week though, which would of killed any fish or corals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I happen to agree with Jesse here about running the lights and skimmer. But, If you add live rock that is not cured fully, then you will have a cycle like Jason has had. This is why during the cycle you need to test your parameters at least 3 times a week. I tested mine almost daily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 i tested mine daily for the last 2 1/2 weeks i have been running my lights on a shorter photoperiod of 5 hours during my cycle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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