Growth in tank

[ReneeC]

OK so I noticed last night that my tank has brown stuff growing on the live rock and sand....Is this normal??? Is it just algae? Should i claen out the stuff on the sand? And should I put a clean up crew in there yet? If so what should i put its a 55gal. And one last thing all my levels are good except my nitrites, What should i do to fix this?

Renee

[rockethippo]

Hey I had the exact same problem. It was also all over my glass. I was advised to just scrub the glass when you change the water and also to just move the sand around. I got my cleanup crew when my ammonia was 0. Your still cycling? Or no? Hope this helps

[Reefscape]

How long has the tank been running?if its very new and if your nitrITES are high, it could be that your mid cycle...The brown is just a usual alage bloom that will go in time...just one of the things that happens as the tank start s to establish..

Clean up crew can go in about now, now that the ammonia has gone...suggest a mixture of snails, red and blue hermits and maybe a cleaner shrimp or two....

Niko

[ReneeC]

How long does it take for the tank to finish cycling? Silly question i know, but the more i read the more questions i have. On sunday it will be 2 weeks since i got my tank up and running.

Renee

[Reefscape]

it can be anywhere from a week to up to 6 weeks...it all depends on how "live" the "Live" rock is to be honest...The more live it is, the quicker the cycle usually is...

Niko

[ReneeC]

So would it be a bad thing to add more LR now or would it just mess things up. When i added the LR that i have in there now 1 of the peices was done curing and the other was just about done. There was hardly any smell to it. Do I really need to have a least 1 lbs per gallon if i have a biological filter already? Do u only need all that rock if it your main biological filtration system?

Renee

[Reefscape]

If your cycling, its best to get as much live rock in now, its done with then....you will get another ammonia spike, but, once its done, its done with...It is true, if you use other mechanical filtration, like an external filter, you dont need all the live rock....but, you have to remember to keep up the maintenance routine with it....strictly....yes, that is the rock you would need to have to get it filtering on its own, with other filters...

Niko

[ReneeC]

So how would u all suggest that i get my nitrite levels down? Water change or should i be cleaning my tank already? Sorry to be a bug I just want to get this right.

Renee

*ok nevermind I see up above it says to do a water change.

Thanks for the help guys!!!

[ReneeC]

Clean up crew can go in about now, now that the ammonia has gone...suggest a mixture of snails, red and blue hermits and maybe a cleaner shrimp or two....

Niko[/quote]
How many of each of these would be ok to put or what would be the recommend amount? Will the Hermits leave the shrimp alone or will they eat them?

[Germanman]

cleaner shrimp dont clean up...they sometimes clean fish of parasites...they dont clean up waste and algae...lol...they are actually to sensitive to add right away as well.

[Reefscape]

Well, i certainly class a cleaner shrimp as a cleanup agent...When ever i feed my tank, my cleaners are always picking bits of food that get on the rock and "cleanup" what is left..After all, they are a scavenger feeder....My two make a great job of mopping up the left overs that i dont remove after feeding...

Niko

[kandibrandy]

For a 55g tank I would recommend 20 (or more) snails, 20 hermit crabs, and 2cleaner shrimp, and a couple emerald crabs...(our Em crab has yet to eat the bubble algae, so hit and miss with those guys)Ours does eat all other detrius and stuff...

Hope this helps...

Also check online Marine stores, they usually have a suggested "clean up package" for tank sizes...

[Germanman]

Well, i certainly class a cleaner shrimp as a cleanup agent...When ever i feed my tank, my cleaners are always picking bits of food that get on the rock and "cleanup" what is left..After all, they are a scavenger feeder....My two make a great job of mopping up the left overs that i dont remove after feeding...

Niko

good point but they cant really be treated as one and tossed in right after cycle usually.

[i_limantara]

I also have the same problem here... well.. it's start to become cleaning though... and take around 6 month >.<"
my tank become brown color back then... and i just put 3 feeding algae fish. i think it's already a month since i put them

[Reefscape]

good point but they cant really be treated as one and tossed in right after cycle usually.

That is all i have ever done with cleaners and mine have boomed in size, as long as the nitrates are down below 10 ( cycle finished ), there is no reason at all why they cant go in the tank..

Just my opinion of course..

Niko

[ReneeC]

Awesome!!! Thanks for all the help. You all are so helpful. I have learned so much just by reading this and all the other posts on here...:dance2:

Renee

[jojo22]

Awesome!!! Thanks for all the help. You all are so helpful. I have learned so much just by reading this and all the other posts on here...:dance2:

Renee

:eek: You read ALL the posts here!!!!:eek: Just kidding. sorry I didn't see this thread earlier so I could hop in. Hope to catch another of your threads in the future. Glad you like it here!!


Joe

[ReneeC]

ok so maybe not all the post but I have read a bunch of them.:)

Renee