Please help a newby with a new tank!!!

[freedom75]

I have just setup a 72 gallon Bowfront. when setting it up I added 30 pounds of sand on the bottom and then added a layer of crushed coral. and then 40 pounds of live sand. I added about 35 to 40 pounds of live rock and I have one small Green chromis. I presntly have a sea clone protein skimmer going. And it is skimming a hugh amount of brown liquid out. I havea magnum 350 working cleaning the water. I also have a power head for extra circulation. I have 90 watts of lighting. I will be adding in the next couple of weeks 350 watts of MH lighting. But I am having brown algea growing on the sand. it is getting thickit is also on the rock however it is turning green on the rocks.It has been up 2 weeks and the water is crystal clear however the cycle is only to the point of showing small signs of ammonia. Am I doing somthing wrong. Do i need more fish and what do I do about the algea on the sand.; Can someone please help
Thank You
John

 

[Green Lantern]

Hi John, if your tank hasn't cycled then if possible get the chromis out of there. I've never kept one but there aren't many fish that will live through a cycle. The live rock and sand will cycle without any help from fish.

I think if you do a search on setting up a sand bed you'll find that crushed coral is not the best choice. The large partical size tends to trap a lot of detritus and leads to high nitrates.

From what I've heard, (never owned one), Seaclones aren't very adequate skimmers specifically for a tank of your size. You may want to look into some different options.

As for the Magnum, a good skimmer will provide all the mechanical filtration you'll need. If you want to use it make sure you keep it clean.

The tank will go through algae cycles but if you are getting large amounts of a brown powdery alga (diatoms) you may want to check your source water. Most people use some form of filtration on their water. This can range from a Tap Water Purifier to reverse osmosis/de-ionizing units.

Upgrading the lighting is a great idea if you plan on keeping a reef. There are many options.

I'd suggest doing a search on the board for good reading materials. There are many. John Tullock's Natural Reef Aquarium is a good starting book. The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium is another more advanced look that is excellent. Take things slow and read as much as you can. Reefs.org has a really great library at your disposal. You can access it from the main page.

I'd really suggest getting that chromis out of there if you can.

HTH

PS: You don't have anywhere near enough circulation. One powerhead, the cannister and the skimmer won't provide enough. On my 75 I had five power heads and an external pump running as well as a skimmer using a mag 7 pump.

[ August 01, 2001: Message edited by: Green Lantern ]

 

[freedom75]

The current in kmy tank is already quite high. I can see it moving around the rocks when I out food in for the fish it lloks like a race car runing laps..

 

[skylsdale]

Get rid of the crushed coral.....it's nothing but a detritus trap and sends your nitrates skyrocketing. My friend had it in his tank, then finally had it and switched over. I agreed to help him with the switch, and trust me, it would have been much easier to do in the beginning...

 

[jwtrojan44]

I have to agree with the recommendation of getting rid of the crushed coral. Do it now while the tank has nothing in it. You said that you have 70 lbs. of sand in the tank. This is probably not enough to give you the benefits of a dsb. (I have over 100 lbs. in my 55) I'd get the coral out, add more sand to get at least a 4-5 inch bed, and then put you rock in. You could also use some more rock in a tank that size. The tank will take a while to cycle fully, but that's o.k. You don't need to cycle it with any fish. A good dsb and enough live rock will serve as your primary filtration. Keep the skimmer and you should be in good shape, depending on what you plan to keep in the tank. JWT.

 

[jdeets]

Where did you get your LR? Was it fully cured/cycled when you put it in? I've started two tanks, and in each case, I started with fully cured and cycled LR. In both cases, I never really got anything more than *trace* ammonia (<0.1 ppm).

If you started with cured LR, it's possible your tank IS cycled. The brown diatom algae is another good sign that your tank is cycled.

I'd just keep an eye on the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels, but I wouldn't take the fish out at this point. If your A/N/N levels stay low for another few days, I'd add a cleanup crew to take care of the diatom algae.