Help Sludge

[bambam]

Help I am not new but starting up new Nano Reef,

 

I got some nice Live Rock from Borat covered with coral last week, it was doing pretty good i put it into my 15g tank with some Macro Algae, about a week passed water parameters were good, 0 Nitrite, .05 Nitrate, 8.4 PH, Alk good. So yesterday i see this brown sludge like scum all over the bottom of the tank.

I changed the some water but the sludge did not go away, i took the charcol out of canister filter and put in some phosphate remover, what else should i do to remove the sludge.

[zygote2k]

Help I am not new but starting up new Nano Reef,

 

I got some nice Live Rock from Borat covered with coral last week, it was doing pretty good i put it into my 15g tank with some Macro Algae, about a week passed water parameters were good, 0 Nitrite, .05 Nitrate, 8.4 PH, Alk good. So yesterday i see this brown sludge like scum all over the bottom of the tank.

I changed the some water but the sludge did not go away, i took the charcol out of canister filter and put in some phosphate remover, what else should i do to remove the sludge.

 

It's just diatoms- they'll burn off by themselves in a few days. If your tank is new, this is a normal event. Sometimes if you disturb the sand bed in a mature tank, it will cause a diatom bloom.

Nothing to be worried about. Put the carbon back in the filter. Phosphate remover won't help you.

[bambam]

Thanks, I will put the charcol back.

[gmubeach]

Is cyno bacteria the same as diatoms? Either way it should go away!

[OldReefer]

I am a broken record but I really like this stuff. A little bottle of Brightwell MicroBacter 7 will help burn up some of that more quickly. But remeber some diatom blooms and even cyano is pretty much inevitable. It is all part of the process.

[Happyfeet]

Diatom Algae feeds off of silicate as a food source. thrives in a low pH saltwater environment, and light in the yellow, orange, and red spectrum.

 

Cyanobacteria - Can be a red, black, or green color and range from a dusting to a velvety carpet. Cyanobacteria thrives when there is an overabundance of organic nutrients. I currently have a Velvety carpet growing on a couple of my rocks. I've stopped the growth and I'm working removing it.

 

Cyano bacteria won't just "go away" it will require you improve your water quality. It's growing because there is an excessive amount of organic nutrients in the system.

Edited March 15, 2010 by Happyfeet

[bambam]

Diatom Algae feeds off of silicate as a food source. thrives in a low pH saltwater environment, and light in the yellow, orange, and red spectrum.

 

Cyanobacteria - Can be a red, black, or green color and range from a dusting to a velvety carpet. Cyanobacteria thrives when there is an overabundance of organic nutrients. I currently have a Velvety carpet growing on a couple of my rocks. I've stopped the growth and I'm working removing it.

 

Cyano bacteria won't just "go away" it will require you improve your water quality. It's growing because there is an excessive amount of organic nutrients in the system.

 

 

The ph 8.1 and the Nitrite 0 and Nitrate is .5 there is not organic nutrients, the only live stock other than the Coral that is on the Live Rock is 3 small snails. I will put some fish in on friday maybe add to the clean-up crew tomorrow.

[Happyfeet]

The ph 8.1 and the Nitrite 0 and Nitrate is .5 there is not organic nutrients, the only live stock other than the Coral that is on the Live Rock is 3 small snails. I will put some fish in on friday maybe add to the clean-up crew tomorrow.

 

You said it was a brown sludge and with out a picture that leads me to believe its a Diatom algae not Cyanobacteria

[bambam]

Thanks for the help, i bought turbo and nerith snails and some red leg crabs, they are busy eating something but the brown alage is still there. The water quality is still the same, calcium was low but i added some now it is 360. I will be adding more circulation tomorrow when my fans arrive. thanks again

[Coral Hind]

When I read "sludge" I think of Dinoflagellates which to me looks like snot. Could that be what you have?

 

 

[bambam]

LOL no it does not look like that i will take a picture tonight.

[JMsAquarium]

LOL no it does not look like that i will take a picture tonight.

 

THAT will help. Thanks

[bambam]

Sludge is gone was diatoms, thanks for your help.