cycling questions - brown algae everywhere

Beau is hosting the January Meeting this coming Saturday the 14th at 6PM.  It will be BYOB as well as a snack to share and raffle items are always welcome.  It has been requested that there be “NO SHOES” on the carpet due to it being a whitish color.

He doesn’t have a tank to view but we will have plenty to discuss in hopes that it will get the NEW YEAR off to a good start.  The annual membership fees are due, so now would be a good time to get them in to our Treasurer Stacey Hahn.   Fees are $20 per individual or $25 per family

Attendance was low at the election meeting in November and no votes were taken at December’s meeting so we have decided to take votes for anyone that didn’t get the opportunity in November and will be attending this meeting.  
We will add the votes to November’s ballots and the announcement will be made during the meeting so we can go forward.
NOMINATIONS:
President:  Jim & Nacho
V. President: Ed, Bo & Daniel Leigey
Treasurer: Stacey
Secretary: Carmen & Angie

Let’s hope the New Year brings new members, returning members and new ideas.  The club is always willing to take suggestions to get the most out of the hobby we all enjoy.

Please PM Nate C. by clicking here for directions if you are not a club member.  

Club members can click here to go to the club member only forum to get directions.

Hope to see you all there!

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[VickiG]

Ok, I figured it was about time someone used this part of the forum again, even thought I don't really have crabs (yet! - Reeftopia order coming tomorrow - thanks Dashia!).  I have some questions for you experienced reefers.  We are cycling our tank, as you know.  Have about 2/3 of our live rock now in for two weeks.  Will be getting more soon, but in the meantime, we are definitely getting ugly brown algae on the rocks and the sides of the tank.  It is now 'flowing like wheat in the wind' in the water current, maybe 1/2 inch long.   :shock:  Told you it was ugly.  Our water parameters, tested Sunday:  Temp 78, pH 8.2, ORP, 280, Alk 3.6, Ca 400, SG 1.024, D.O. 6.5, NO2 .15, NO3 4.0, NH3 .25.  So you can see our Nitrate is coming up a bit and a little ammonia.  The algae showed up after our last water tests and we shut our lights off but have not re-tested the water, which I intend to do this evening.  So...are we "cycling" yet at this point?  Other than the janitor order coming tomorrow, do we need to do anything about the algae?  At what point would we need to do a water change and how much?  We are adding a couple gallons of top-off every day, but no water changes yet.  We have a small (about 4 gal) 'fuge going with just some refugium sediment (Kent Marine - not the Miracle Mud) and a few LR rubble rocks - should we add any macro algae yet to the 'fuge?  Chaeto perhaps?  Also, UVS has been off - should we turn it on yet?  When we get the rest of our live rock, I imagine these parameters will all change.   The temp is holding between 78 and 78.5 now with the new chiller, pH is staying right around 8.2, ORP is up to about 320.  But, from where we are at right now, what actions/water treatments etc do you guys suggest?  

Sorry for the long e-mail... you know how much we newbies have to learn and ask questions of all you OLD TIMERS!   :lol:   Looking forward to your input/advice/suggestions.  Thanks in advance!

[Les]

Vicki,
That's what cycling a tank is all about. What you're seeing is the cycle process. You may want to do a water change, about 5- 10% a week should do. Please bare in mind that you may go through this again when you put in the rest of the live rock.
I would say yes on adding some macro algae. Any nutrient export you can get started would also good for the tank.

[VickiG]

Thanks Les.  I just wanted to make sure that what we are seeing is 'normal' for cycling and not something crazy going on that we need to get concerned about or that will get wildly out of control.  We do know we'll likely see more of the same when we put more rock in.  I might go get some Chaeto today and toss in the 'fuge.  What about the UVS - should that be running yet? (I said no because we want all the 'good' bacteria to develop - Darrel thinks it should be on all the time - so you can settle our disagreement!  Ooh, no one likes to be put in the middle of that!   :lol: )  Thanks again!

[Les]

The only thing a UV will do is kill the free floating algea, not the stuff growing on the rocks. I wouldn't bother running it until you get your first fish in the tank.

[VickiG]

Ahh...that make sense!  Thanks again Les!

[angelscrx]

I'd be hesitant about adding any critters yet as your tank will spike (ammonia) and then come down during the cycle and the spike may kill snails and stuff.  If you have enough stuff die in the tank your cycle will be prolonged and the algae will get worse.  Keep a lot of flow going for now and 10% water changes on a regular basis will speed it up.  Depending on how bad it gets you can do a water change every two - three days or just do the normal once a week.  HTH

[VickiG]

Angel, as always, Thanks for your words of advice and encouragement.

[dakota's dad]

thanks vicki for asking some really good questions about new tanks. i am getting ready to start a 75 aga. hopefully soon. the more you ask the lees i have to.

[VickiG]

thanks vicki for asking some really good questions about new tanks. i am getting ready to start a 75 aga. hopefully soon. the more you ask the lees i have to. [/quote

Ha ha, we do ask lots of questions!  We started our reef tank project in Jan 05 (also when we joined the club) and we have taken LOTS of time to research, look at what others have done, and ask questions.  Darrel says we are too old to have to do this all over again, so he wants to get it right the first time!   :lol:  We've definitely learned a lot from other club members as well as just reading all the different reef forums like Reef Frontiers, Reef Central, and MCSAC of course!  And asking lots and lots of questions.  Bear in mind that you'll get 10 different answers for every question and people will disagree with what you ultimately decide to do, but if you put a lot of time, research and thought into your design and plans, you are the one who will live with the outcome, so do what you believe works best for you (you can always change it later if you have to, right?!).  We are hoping we've made good decisions about our reef system, but of course already see things we'd have done differently and we are not even 'up and running' yet.  Take your time, read books and magazines, look at the forums, ask lots of questions and most of all, enjoy the whole process, from the designing and planning stages, building the beast, stocking it with critters - all the way.  This is such a complex hobby, but so much fun, very educational and fulfilling.  There are lots of great folks to help you along the way - never be afraid to ask!  Enjoy!

[dakota's dad]

if i was a little smarter with a computer  :?  i would post pics of my tank (it also helps to have a digital camera) and how it is turning out so far.

[Les]

Here is a pic of Paul's tank I think.

[dakota's dad]

thanks les. the pic is of my tank. off of my phone so the quality is poor.

[angelscrx]

Paul that is a great start.  I know that is going to be one sweet set up.

[dakota's dad]

thanks angel. hope to see some pics of your progress as well.

[nacheetah]

Wow, it's great to see more activity on the forum.  It seems like it's been quiet lately.  Yes, Vicky...keep asking those questions because I'm trying to learn a little about this before we get into the bigger set up.  Our 55 has quite a bit of coraleen..o.k. teach me how to spell it (that red stuff) on the glass now and I was told that is a good thing.  It's going to be sad to see the 55 go because it looks soo healthy right now even with all this heat and no chiller.  We will definately have to get one for the bigger one.