8weeks into my cycle, still high nitrates and lots of algae, pic included

S

srossnz

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Aug 28, 2007
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Is this normal or have I missed the boat? All water readings are normal and my ammonia is zero now, however the nitrites are still at max and it's been this way for about 3 weeks. Also, is this fluorescent green algae normal? And In 8 weeks I have cleaned no filters or done any water changes, should i do a change? My system runs water over white filter media, through charcoal and into beds of sphere objects that apparently grow good bacteria. The main white filter pad is covered in brown algae atleast i think it's algae.

aquariumvq3.jpg
 
nice rock...that is a crazy green though....u using tap water?
 
25gallon, the cycle started via what i suspect were some dead crabs wedged into the dead coral. I had a big ammonia spike for probably 3 weeks total then it slowly went down to zero. Here is a pic of my filter system, it is inside the hood. I lifted up one of the cartridges to show the compartment of media underneath. There is a large compartment of media next to that one as well. Thanks

aquarium2uu1.jpg
 
Not tap water, I live in New Zealand and we use tank water which is rainwater collected from the roof. It is then stored in a large concrete tank and pumped into the house via a 25 to 1 micron filtration system. I'm looking into ways to further purify the water before i start doing changes.
 
hmmm...off the roof a....thats interesting ...no wonder u have issues...lol
 
I thought the same myself but the fish shop had two of these same systems established for over a year running very smooth, so it seemed cost effective.. I don't plan on having much in in, 2 clowns, 1 small damsel and a cleaning crew maybe a coral or two or polyps and such later but nothing extreme..
 
that is some crazy algea, i almost like it lol. i would remove those ceramic balls for starters. they are not needed. also i would do a 50% WC. just my thoughts
 
i think they are made out of some sort of glass and the round ones are ceramic noodles. The shop told me "you can never have too much bio media" but who knows what to trust these days since everyone has an opinion. Is it your view that the coral will eventually do this anyways? The water change makes sense, maybe that would get my nitrates down to a level that can then be removed by what beneficial stuff is in the tank?

I have a small hydor korillia powerhead due to show up any day now as well..
 
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