Starting out

[Dastuck77]

Ok ok I’ve been reading a lot of the forums and thought i would be able to figure a lot out on my own but i need some advise on some items. I started a 265 gallon reef tank February 10th of this year so the tank is a little over 2 months old. I have a small clean up crew and about 5 soft corals that I’ve had for two weeks. A couple of fish that i added two weeks ago after the brown algae bloom but this week i had another algae bloom. I test the water and have it tested and nothing is out of the ordinary. Am i rushing it?? I’ll post a couple of pictures   

[Dastuck77]

This picture is March 25 

This is today and you can see the glass is covered 

[Christopher Marks]

@Dastuck77 I'd recommend using this guide from our sponsor Reef Cleaners to help ID the algae in your system: https://www.reefcleaners.org/nuisance-algae-id-guide 

 

What is your water change routine like? It's not unusual for there to be brief algae blooms in a new aquarium system, like the brown diatom bloom you saw earlier.

[Dastuck77]

@Christopher Marks I Change 44 gallons out every two weeks. The LFS told me i might need to a a supplement called SEED from aquavitro. 

[Christopher Marks]

I think with a system as large as yours, using a product like Aquavitro Seed would make sense in helping to better established a balanced ecosystem. The algae in your system may be calthorix, a cyanobacteria based 'algae'. Does it have bubbles on it only in the evenings, usually gone in the morning? Blue/green in color when your lights are on and a little soft or fuzzy looking? Slimy and slick to the touch? A product like Seed works to establish beneficial bacteria cultures that will outcompete these nuisance ones that can flare up in new and unbalanced ecosystems with excess nutrients, or sometimes even near zero nutrients.

 

Try to get a better ID on the algae as well, that will clarify a lot of things. It's too difficult to ID from your photographs.

[Dastuck77]

@Christopher Marks yes sir it has bubbles in the evenings only and is slick with a dark green color to it. 

[sadie]

wow!!  That is awesome!  I can't wait to see how you stock it!  What are you plans as far as fish and coral?

[Oldsalt01]

Bump ur whites WAY up for pics. It helps us determine algae colors, and for that matter, corals too, which in turn makes id’ing them easier. Just a suggestion😉

[Dastuck77]

On 4/18/2019 at 6:08 PM, Dastuck77 said:

Ok ok I’ve been reading a lot of the forums and thought i would be able to figure a lot out on my own but i need some advise on some items. I started a 265 gallon reef tank February 10th of this year so the tank is a little over 2 months old. I have a small clean up crew and about 5 soft corals that I’ve had for two weeks. A couple of fish that i added two weeks ago after the brown algae bloom but this week i had another algae bloom. I test the water and have it tested and nothing is out of the ordinary. Am i rushing it?? I’ll post a couple of pictures   

Here are a few from today 

[Oldsalt01]

Everything looks pretty happy. As for the algae, looks like possibly cyano ( up ur flow if possible) or maybe diatoms( they feed on silicates from the rock and will go away as the levels drop) on the sand. Still difficult to tell whats on the rock from the pics, but I'm looking at it on my phone, so.... keep up with ur 10-20% weekly water changes and lightly vacuum the sand at the same time. All part of new tank syndrome. Patience is the key here. Don’t over-react. Ur doing well.

[Dastuck77]

Thanks @Oldsalt01 I’ll send some updated pictures in a couple weeks. 

[Oldsalt01]

Really the only potential issue I see is the little clump of Xenia. The stuff can be like a weed and grow crazy, competing with corals on the same rock. Two options, both a bit of a pia: keep trimming it to control growth, or, chisel that piece off and isolate the Xenia on it’s own island. The nice thing about that is you can trade it or get store credit at ur trusted LFS when u get tired of messing with it. Just sayin.

[Dastuck77]

Thanks @Oldsalt01 I’ll send some updated pictures in a couple weeks. 

Thank you sir! 

[Dastuck77]

Any recommendations of lighting levels. I’ve read and had a bunch of people give suggestions but they are all over the place.