Is this brown diatom?

[walter]

Tank started about the 18th of September. Since i got the temp to 78 and all of my levels to 0 (not cycled yet). I got some brown stuff over the substrate, glass and rock. It started in spots and now there is more. I think this is normal from what I have been reading. Just wanted to be sure.

 

If it looks like something other than diatom than tell me please. Regardless, tell me what I need to do.

 

[lanman]

Looks like normal brown diatom algae to me.

 

bob

[reefmontalvo]

Looks like your ready for a cleaning crew.

[walter]

Looks like your ready for a cleaning crew.

 

 

See now thats funny. Because I went to Blue Ribbon yesterday and they said it would be a waste because my tank hadn't cycled yet. They said all my levels were still 0. They said I had no filtration in place. I guess they meant bio, because I have mechanical and chemical in place as well as a protein skimmer.

 

I have no live rock (yeah none), so i have to cycle other ways. A member gave me some of his live sand, but the brown had started before.

 

So Im really confused now. I was basically told to dump all the rock i have in my tank, get about 75lbs of live rock and let it cure in the tank. After curing then I could add fish.

Edited September 29, 2008 by walter

[zygote2k]

Save your money for now. Let the diatoms die off and other algae will take its' place. This is called algal succession. This is part of the cycling process. Apparently your "dead" live rock is becoming live again by releasing stored nutrients and starting the cycling process. It will be slower than adding 75# of LR, but it will happen just the same. You could probably add a fish or two now. Just get something hardy that you'll want to have later. You could add a few cleaning critters too- like hermits. Buy yourself a good book like "Reef Invertebrates" by Calfo & Fenner. Very good info for the beginning marine aquarist.

[Sugar Magnolia]

See now thats funny. Because I went to Blue Ribbon yesterday and they said it would be a waste because my tank hadn't cycled yet. They said all my levels were still 0.

Walter, don't add a clean-up crew yet or any fish. I'm not sure why these guys are trying to rush you. You can't add anything until the tank has cycled or they will die. Dead livestock=waste of money. As I mentioned before, some fish (damsels) will survive the cycle but are nasty little buggers.

 

Here's two options:

 

Use a small piece of raw fish or a raw shrimp

Drop a 2 inch by 1 inch chunk of raw fish or a raw shrimp into the tank. As it decomposes it will release ammonia into the tank.

 

Use 100% pure ammonia.

Using a dropper, add 5 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons of aquarium water. If you don't get an ammonia reading with your test kit, add some more drops until you start to see an ammonia reading. Keep track of how many drops you've used so you can repeat this process daily. Continue to dose the tank with ammonia until you start to get nitrite readings with your test kit. Once you can detect nitrites you should only add 3 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons of aquarium water, or if you added more drops originally to get an ammonia reading cut the amount of drops used in half. Continue this process daily until you get nitrate readings with your test kit.

 

Believe it not, human urine can be used as well. I kid you not. You can google cycling with shrimp and find more of the stuff I just added here.

 

Don't worry about the diatoms, they will disappear in time.

[GaryL]

 

 

Believe it not, human urine can be used as well. I kid you not. You can google cycling with shrimp and find more of the stuff I just added here.

 

Don't worry about the diatoms, they will disappear in time.

 

 

its a very old school way, like how to kickstart your under gravel filter.

[jason the filter freak]

I would just add a couple pieces of rubble then have patience, it looks like you have plenty of rock, don't waste money on buying LR unless you want to. I started my 4th tank with dry rock and the little bit of extra wait was well worth the money saved, plus it was awesome watching bare white rock come to life.

[reefmontalvo]

There are many was you can start the cycle in your tank. The best one was when you got the cup of live sand from another member because it has all the bacteria your going to need to start the process. Even a few hermit crabs which are very hardy will survive the process and even assist since they will eat the algae then deposit there own waste in the process. I just wouldn't place anything expensive or easily hurt by the water doing thru its change. I imagine the folks at BRK are looking after your best interest by not letting you go over board and buy fish just for you to come back a week or two later mad because they died due to lack of properly cycled water.

 

I would just add a couple pieces of rubble then have patience, it looks like you have plenty of rock, don't waste money on buying LR unless you want to. I started my 4th tank with dry rock and the little bit of extra wait was well worth the money saved, plus it was awesome watching bare white rock come to life.

 

 

I started my second tank a few months back and it was cool seeing bleached white tonga rock turn into live rock. And I only had about 20lbs of live rock to start with from the old tank. I was told by some guys when I was in the Carolina's you can almost convert any rock in to live rock the more pourous the better for all the small critters to inhabit.

[Oprah Wrangler]

However unpleasant it may sound I use my own urine to cycle all of my tanks and it always works like a charm. I am not sure how much science there is behind my theory but I figure human urine is going to be enough of a catalyst to develope a large bacteria base. Large enough to handle a great deal of bio load. I am no scientist or chemist but it has always worked wonders for me. I started a new 8g bio cube on last Friday and added 8oz of urine and today my NH3+4, NO2, and NO3 are all at the max of my test. Just my 2cents about the human urine thing.

[zygote2k]

However unpleasant it may sound I use my own urine to cycle all of my tanks and it always works like a charm. I am not sure how much science there is behind my theory but I figure human urine is going to be enough of a catalyst to develope a large bacteria base. Large enough to handle a great deal of bio load. I am no scientist or chemist but it has always worked wonders for me. I started a new 8g bio cube on last Friday and added 8oz of urine and today my NH3+4, NO2, and NO3 are all at the max of my test. Just my 2cents about the human urine thing.

Do you pour it in, or do you naturally put it in?

[Oprah Wrangler]

Do you pour it in, or do you naturally put it in?

depends on how much I have to drink before

not to mention I dont have any tanks deep enough

[Brian]

Time will do many things for you that will help in the long run. Only thing I did to start the cycle in my tank was to buy 1 piece of live rock and then let it sit for 6 weeks. I got the same brown algae and it went away after a couple of weeks. Once I hit the 6 week mark and my test were all at 0 I went and got a couple of hermits and snails. Now this is in a 90 so I only got 10 at a time. Waited a week counted how many I had left and then went and got more if I still had the origianl 10. Took about 5 more weeks before I had enough snails and hermits for my tank before I added my first fish. Then I wasn't adding fish but every couple of weeks. So the best thing you can do is give your tank time. Don't rush it or you will have more problems than not.

 

Brian