Greetings

[oh207]

Hello all,
I'm new to the forum and wanted to say hello and introduce myself. My name is Onkar and i'm in Amityville. I've got a 65g tank thats been cycling for just over a month. I figure I have another 2-3 weeks for the cycle to complete.
I was in a LFS and one of the employees directed me to signup here. I'm very glad that he sent me here. I spent countless hours soaking up all the valuable information within the various thread.

 

[Reef Reaper]

Welcome!

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Welcome. Read all you can

 

[fishman1069]

Welcome to MR! You already did 2 things right, having patience to let your tank cycle the correct way and joining this site! Good luck and post pics :beer:

 

[Adamp_holydiver]

Welcome home !!!

 

[oh207]

Thank you for the welcome greetings. I'm simply amazed by the helpfulness, compassion, and culture that I see in these threads.
Here is a pic I took about two weeks ago. I hope the attachment works.
Two days ago I woke up to a brownish algae on my LR. From what I read its diatoms? I use a phyton to remove some from the LR and did 20% water change. Now this morning I see some green algae. I'm hoping that it doesn't get too bad and take over the tank. I don't want to add any clean-up crew.

 

[fishman1069]

It looks good! You might want to add some snails to combat the algae. If you're getting diatoms and hair algae, you're ready to start adding livestock slowly. Start with some cerith, nassarius and trochus snails and go from therr

 

[oh207]

It looks good! You might want to add some snails to combat the algae. If you're getting diatoms and hair algae, you're ready to start adding livestock slowly. Start with some cerith, nassarius and trochus snails and go from therr

Thanks fishman1069. I'm worried that the CUC will bring in ich. Can I skip the CUC and wait it out?
I definitely have the hair algae. I am tracking water parameters and except for ammonia (.25), everything else is okay so far. I'm using an API kit and from what I read, they are not the most reliable.

 

[greenstreet.1]

Best spot on the net. Welcome

 

[SanmanReefer]

Welcome to MR. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

 

[oh207]

Thank you SanManReefer. And thanks for the offer. I'm still in the process of starting up. Will certainly reach out for advice and help along the way.

 

[James983]

Welcome to MR.

It looks like your using dry rock to cycle? Just so you know you will probably experience some hair algae for a while as it will most likely leech from the rock.

You should get a Phosphate Reactor and I would not run the lights until you are cycled. A CUC crew will help but it will not control the hair algae. Also, A R.O./D.I. filter is a must. Don't sweat it too much it is par for the course.

Good luck and happy reefing!

 

[oh207]

Welcome to MR.

It looks like your using dry rock to cycle? Just so you know you will probably experience some hair algae for a while as it will most likely leech from the rock.

You should get a Phosphate Reactor and I would not run the lights until you are cycled. A CUC crew will help but it will not control the hair algae. Also, A R.O./D.I. filter is a must. Don't sweat it too much it is par for the course.

Good luck and happy reefing!

Hi James983, thank you. I actually used 40lbs of base rock and 60lbs of cured live rock (Tonga & Branch). The hair algae is not easy on the eyes.
I will look into a Phosphate reactor. I don't have an RO/DI unit but have been using RO/DI water from the LFS which is less than 5 minutes away. They sell it for $.75/g.

I've been running my skimmer and lights since day one. Lights are on at 50% intensity on 10hr schedule with fade in/out. I will shut it off as recommended.

Others have advise me to look into a CUC, after much reading and advisement, I've decided to go with only snails.

Here is my wish list in order:
ATO
RO/DI
Reactors

 

[thirty6]

Tank looks nice, add the cuc it will be a nice to have something in tank to check out and will help with algae. I'd kill lights for a bit, I didn't run lots during my cycle at all.

 

[oh207]

Tank looks nice, add the cuc it will be a nice to have something in tank to check out and will help with algae. I'd kill lights for a bit, I didn't run lots during my cycle at all.

Thanks thirty6. The first 3 weeks were very difficult not having anything in the tank. By the 4th week I got over it. I actually spent my time mapping out the fish stores in Long Island and visited most of the popular ones.
Now, I'm not in a hurry because I want to take my time and get things done the right way.

Lights out.

 

[lnevo]

Nice tank, I have the same one and looks like same stand too! What sump did you get in there? Which LFS are you by?

 

[oh207]

Nice tank, I have the same one and looks like same stand too! What sump did you get in there? Which LFS are you by?

Thanks lnevo. I got my tank and stand from Aquarium Village.
If I recalled correctly, my sump is an ASM-100 15g Reef Sump. The LFS i'm referring to is Pets Warehouse...they are a few minutes away from me.

 

[lnevo]

Cool. That's where I got hooked up and also referred here