Help! 2nd week of cycling - brown diatom algae ? please help

[JonnyJ]

hi all, anyways the tank is 2 weeks old and this morning i seen brown diatom? algae on the sand, i left it alone came back home around 3 hrs later and it seems to have multiplied like crazzzzzy.

its a 24gallon aquapod, atleast 40lbs of lr [supposedly almost all of it cured]
added caluerpa earlier this morning to the tank

all tests done with api tests

r/o water.

salt [hydrometer] 1024
Calcium 420
phosphate 0.5
PH : 8.2-8.4
Nitrate: 5.0 [was 10 yesterday]
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0 - .25 [seems like a little more than zero from the test]

started purple up 2 days ago

stock lights, 50watt heater.
the temperature at night till morning is about 78-79..with heater and lights on for about 10 hours a day it seems to get to around 82.

should i keep the lights on? off?

any inputs on what to do? is it normal? will it go away on its own?

lemmie know. thanks..

 

[Awibrandy]

Normal! It will go away! If you don't have any animals in the tank (which you shouldn't since you are cyclin a new tank) there is no need for the lights.
I would not dose Purple Up. Get a controller for the heater to try to avoid a catastrophy if it should go bad on you.

 

[REEF ADDICT]

Part of the cycle...its normal...

 

[JonnyJ]

there is actually a lot of polyps in various parts of the tank that came out of nowhere from the previous live rock owner so i would like to keep the lights on if possible. Does this brown diatom live off the light or will it go away with the lights on anyway? if i have to let the polyps die to get rid of the diatoms i guess ill have no choice. thanks for replies

 

[Awibrandy]

No, if you have frags in there do run your lights!

 

[KathyC]

Can you post a pic of what is growing on the rocks? We'll be able to tell you if it can go without light for awhile during your cycle.

You really should not cycle a tank with the lights on (you'll end up with unwanted algae growth, plus it isn't necessary), you are only trying to grow bacteria colonies right now.

Diatoms are an expected part of cycling a tank - so no need for concern, and it will be there with them on or off,

As far as Purple Up - put it in a corner and forget you own it..lol If you keep your water parameters on target, you will not need to waste your reef $ buying more of it. All it will do it change your parameters possibly to a point when you need to do other things to re-correct them.
Patience & stable water parameters will grow you all of the coralline algae you want

Are you running the heater 24/7? Just curious due to one of your responses.
What lighting is on this tank?

 

[D1J8Z]

hydrometer = garbage
Refractometer = GOLD

 

[JonnyJ]

hey KathyC

thanks for the reply, anyways i run a basic 50w heater all day and night. it doesnt have any controller or anything just has a green light! [should i consider buying a different heater? please help lol]

the lights are the stock power compact lights that came with the aquapod. however it has 2 bulbs,50/50 each bulb [ 1 white 1 actinic ] so i have to run both everyday. then i also run the leds along with it from 10am'ish to 10pm'ish . then i run the led's alone from 6pm to 10ish am.


i am getting the 20" nova extreme t5's in January for my birthday instead of the halides so i could avoid a chiller

[Current USA 20" Nova EXT Pro T5HO]

help! thanks again everyone.

heres a pic of whats alive in the tank [lights were just turned on so they might not be open] they are in random areas of the tank some just single, some like 5 heads, etc.

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

poor poly's or zoos will die and even the caluerpa
dont worry

 

[JonnyJ]

confused what you mean by that.

 

[Awibrandy]

Why will they die if his rocks were/are life rocks? He has 0 ammonia & nitrites. He is now dealing with nitrates. If the paly & zoa didn't die already what makes you think that they will die now?
Jonny, where did you get the rocks from? Why do you say "supposedly all cured"? Were the rocks cured or not?

If these rocks were/are life rock, then what is the difference from starting a new tank with cured life rock, and an upgrade?

When I upgraded tanks with lr from previous tank the cycle was pretty short. Which is what I suspect is going on with this tank.
I ran my lights because of the few animals in it. I have not seen any algae in my tanks except for tanks I ran with tap water.

How long are you running your lights? As to your heater does it have a dial w/numbers for you to set it at a specific value?

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

did you get the rocks from a established tank local or were they shipped with damp towels, what I am saying if you went thru a cycle yet? If you did they will live, if not they might die due to amonia spike

 

[JonnyJ]

ok i got 20 lbs from an established reef, they never left the water. another 10 lbs from an established reef with tons of spf lps etc in it [supposivly in it for 2 years] and another 10 from the same guy from a 3 year tank with spf lps

the second two batches were transfered 45 minutes in a bucket moist. i believe its going thru a small cycle. the nitrates were 10 two days ago. now 5. etc

ammonia was like .50 4 days ago...now inbetwen 0 and .25 onthe graph [ but closer to 0]

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

ok then you should be good, even that tranfer for dry in 45mins sometimes don't get die off, dont worry about the alge for now, keep the lights on and maybe do a small water change in a week. Any fish in tank? Are you overfeeding?
Be patient is the game in this hobby

 

[Awibrandy]

Jonny, you are on the right track!
Could you please tell us a little about your heater. I'm pretty sure it does have a dial that you can adjust.
When I wrote about controllers I was not referring to the external controller within the heater as those tend to fail. I was talking about added security with an external one added to the one that the heaters are equipped with.
I just recently added a ReefKeeper 2 to my reef, and I have to tell you I love it. It controls my lights, fans, heaters, and at least 1 power head. There are a few controllers that you can choose from when you have the extra $$. Make sure to look in the For Sale forum for deals.........
I have lost fish to heaters malfunctioning on the on position before. I came home to fish soup from work one day. Totally heart breaking when you've raised them from tiny 1" to well over 10"!!!!!
I keep my heaters set to 77 degrees all year round because in the summer my tank temps go up as high as 84. I prefer to keep my tanks on the warmer side during the winter months so that when summer comes around the temperature swing is not that bad.
That is how I run my tanks, that does not mean you should run your's the same. This works for me, it may not work for you.
Once I get my A/C installed I am pretty certain my tank will not hit that 84 degree any longer.lol
Ah, don't run your lights all the time either. I wouldn't run them anymore then 8 hrs per day for now.

 

[JonnyJ]

It's a tetra 50 watt "preset heater" was free with the system - now that I think about it buying a heater with a way to set the temp would definitly correct alot of the heat issues I'm having. What heater should I get? Lemmie know thanks

I'll get a new one with a controller on the heather and eventually a exterior controller

 

[Awibrandy]

That tetra heater is rated for up to 10 gallon tanks. That may be the reason it is always on.

From what I hear the EboJager heaters are the better ones, and that is what I am running in my 155. But I still have them on a Reef Keeper 2 controller for added security.

My fowlr still has the titanium heaters, which will be going on the Reef Keeper 2, once I install the Aqua Controller II on the reef.

Both purchased here on MR at great affordable prices.

 

[canitolindo]

Reefkeeper 2 and a jager heater does me right