Brown algae on live rock

[Anonymous]

I have a 9 gallon tank with 8 lbs. of live rock that has been cycling for 10 days. My water perameters are ammonia 0.25 ppm, nitrate 20 ppm, nitrite 0 ppm. There is a brown algae on my live rock that looks like hair. The LFS said it was normal on a new tank. Is this normal and will it go away, or how do I get rid of it? The LFS told me to add a turbo snail, I did
but it stays on the glass and never touches the rock!

 

[djconn]

Hey Dave and welcome to Nanotank.com! Great to see another Houstonian up on the boards.

You're doing everything exactly right . Turbo snails are good but you should also consider other 'clean up crew' options to help with your initial algae bloom. I would put in 4 or 5 hermits of various sizes to help cut down on your algae. I would also add a bumblebee snail or 2. I also have 3 fighting conches in my 20 gal which help keep my sand clean but I'd wait a little to add one of those. Keep testing your water and remember patience is the key to starting up a nano.

Where did you get your rock and equipment? Any pics?

 

[wizord25]

Brown algea is perfectly normal for a new tank, and it usually means the tank is about done being cycled. The brown will probably turn into green algae. For an 8 gallon tank i would look into the following clean up crew:

1 Trochus Snail
3 Nassarius Snails
3 Cerith Snails
2 scarlet hermits
2 dwarf hermits
2 astrea snails
2 bumblebee snails (not as good with algae but they look nice)

Turbo and margarita snails can be tricky... many are from cooler waters and they wont survive in tanks that get above 77 degrees, so i just stay away from them.

 

[Jennie]

Are you sure that those perameters are right? Wondered since there is a nitrAte reading but on the nitrIte it is 0. Just caught my eye is all.

 

[wizord25]

i think you might be confused as to the order jennie. Ammonia -> Nitrite -> Nitrate. dave just has them switched on his post. The only thing that might be a little weird is having ammonia but no nitrite, but there really isnt much ammonia there, so it looks about right. By the way dave, you probably should do a water change if you havent already to dilute the nitrates.

 

[djconn]

Yeah, I noticed that too...weird there is no nitrite. Looks like its still cycling a little but yes, I would do a water change if you already haven't.

 

[Anonymous]

hey guys thanks for the help! My water perameters are still the same. I have done 2 water changes since setting the tank up. My last water change was 40% done Monday. The test kit I am using is by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. I'm not sure of its acuracy. My wife brought home the clean-up crew!

5 BLUE LEGGED HERMITS
2 CERITH SNAILS
1 EMERALD CRAB

 

[wizord25]

just a suggestion... you might want to get a few astrea snails to help out with algae and diatoms. With that, the cleaners should do a good job of keepin everything nice and clean.

 

[djconn]

Hey Dave, sounds like you got yourself a good wife there

I used to have an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kit. The values were pretty decent I think but the Ph was too hard to judge with that little color chart. When things really get rolling and you need more precise testing, I would recommend Salifert kits. Its all I use now. Their kits are not too expensive considering the quality and I our sponsor, ereeftank has very reasonable prices. Keep us updated with the progress.