Skip the diatom phase? and other questions

[SnowManSnow]

Hey guys,
A few questios here. :lol:
:?: ) I've seen several tanks listed here that were referred to as being in their diatom phase... basically lots of brown looking algae. The algae is caused by too many "algeal nutrients" right? The phase is eventually passed as the live rock / other organisms flourish enough to take those nutrients away right? SOOOO.... can I avoid the diatom phase by adding a little LR...letting the stuff on it begin to grow good.. then add more LR untill I have enough. That way as LR.. or fish.. or whater is added there is a consumer.


Shouldn't this work?

:?: ) I'm without a protein skimmer at the moment, which I gather is the primary source for oxygenating the water, so I'm having to use a standard air stone. Question = can I put toooo many bubbles in the water? I've heard that some wooden or glass stones can cause problems for fish in the long run.


:?: ) OK . Concerning featherdusters. Do these guys require a lot of light or just nutrients? I'm working pretty much on standard aquarium lighting at the moment. What other things can I keep that don't require a great deal of light? I can manage 1 30inch and 1 24 inch fixture at the moment. (Should be getting a 50/50 bulb for my 30 inch). The 24 gives off a purple kind of color for a shadow.

:?: ) Can I remove my biowheel now that I do have some LR? Or do I wait?

:?: ) There's an ID question for the thinggi in the pic. It looks soft, furry, and moves with the current.

Hope everyone has a GREAT evening!


B.

 

[keethrax]

:?: ) I'm without a protein skimmer at the moment, which I gather is the primary source for oxygenating the water, so I'm having to use a standard air stone. Question = can I put toooo many bubbles in the water? I've heard that some wooden or glass stones can cause problems for fish in the long run.
B.

The biggest problem an airstone is likely to cause is accelerated salt creep. Since the bubbles breaking at the top will spray salt around.

Other than that as long as you don't stick it right under and invert that can't move out of the way, the bubbles shouldn't cause any problems.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm without a protein skimmer at the moment, which I gather is the primary source for oxygenating the water

THis isnt entirely true. The primary function for a protein skimmer is to remove organic wastes and nutrients from your tank. The Aeration is just a byproduct . Primary sources of oxygenation are Power heads, wave machines, trickle boxes also do it, and air stones (although many people ditch the stones sooner of later.)

I've seen several tanks listed here that were referred to as being in their diatom phase... basically lots of brown looking algae. The algae is caused by too many "algeal nutrients" right? The phase is eventually passed as the live rock / other organisms flourish enough to take those nutrients away right? SOOOO.... can I avoid the diatom phase by adding a little LR...letting the stuff on it begin to grow good.. then add more LR untill I have enough. That way as LR.. or fish.. or whater is added there is a consumer.

Th diatom Phase isnt really a phase. Its just what people blame their algea problems on. Most times if your water quality and the products you put into the tank are "phosphate free" you can get along without having a Algea phase. Most of the time you get Diatoms is because of low lighting, Phosphates may also be a problem but if you have phosphates in your tank you most likely have hair algea in your tank and thats worse than Diatoms.


Ohh and your plan wont work, unless you plan on skimming in the begining. Its also better to add all or most of your live rock in the begining as to not upset your fish and the biological filtration in the future.

OK . Concerning featherdusters. Do these guys require a lot of light or just nutrients? I'm working pretty much on standard aquarium lighting at the moment. What other things can I keep that don't require a great deal of light? I can manage 1 30inch and 1 24 inch fixture at the moment. (Should be getting a 50/50 bulb for my 30 inch). The 24 gives off a purple kind of color for a shadow.

Feather dusters dont require much, if you are talking about the ones that appear naturally on live rock. I dont do anything special for mine and the just pop up by the hundred. They arent Photosynthic so they dont need special lights. They filter feed in the water. If you wanna help them add some calcium supplement. I add aragamilk every once in a while and they seem to multiply like crazy when I do that.

Can I remove my biowheel now that I do have some LR? Or do I wait?

Yeah you can but try and get most your live rock in soon too. Also dont add fish if you just added your live rock. It needs time to balance the biological filtration.

Question = can I put toooo many bubbles in the water? I've heard that some wooden or glass stones can cause problems for fish in the long run.

what you read is untrue, there is no evidence that air bubbles irritate fish at all. Think about it this way how many fish are in the shallows of a coral reef?? they weather waves and that causes tons of bublles, no?

Inverts it may bother and stress out but fish will be fine with it. Most of the people don tlike bubbles in their tank because it distorts their view of their fish.

Hope this helps. and I dunno what the heck is in your pick

 

[SnowManSnow]

Thanks guys... but what is the thing in the picture?

 

[Anonymous]

You are essentually correct that you can avoid the diatoms and all other initial algae blooms by removing the nutrients from the water. To me the best way to do that is to simply get other plant life going right from the start. Starting a refugium with say a pound of macros for every 50g of water will do the trick. The key is to do it right from the start. If you wait a week to insure the plant life is thriving you have an excellent visual indicator the tank is ready for the more usual start up like live rock.

 

[SnowManSnow]

btw.. some nasty looking things come out at night.. just a side note

 

[Anonymous]

IMO: The best way to avoid the "initial algae blooms" and remove nutrients from the water is... - keep them from entering in the first place. - Use RO/DI or even better, RO/DI/DI water with a final TDS of 0 and run an efficient skimmer to pick up what you simply cannot avoid entering.

As for what you have in the pic there SnowMan, I'd stab a guess at it being a sponge of some sort.. - Is it in a normally low lit area?

 

[Mihai]

Thanks guys... but what is the thing in the picture?

I think that it's a sponge that doesn't feel too good. It will likely partially die and then come back from the pieces that survived. Good guy.

M.