|
|
|
 Mon May 19, 2008 11:07 pm GMT Reply
Hey Jeff, Welcome to the salty side.
You'll most likely kick yourself later on for using crushed coral as a substrate. Any large particle sand and especially crushed coral tends to trap detritus or any particulate waste and will lead to elevated nitrates. Fine aragonite sand or bare bottom is preferred over crushed coral.
A marine tank with fine grain sand, cleanup crew, adequate flow and a skimmer is all that is needed to keep a clean substrate. Most marine tanks setup this way never need the substrate to be cleaned or vacuumed.
How long has the tank been setup and cycling? Not many cycle using fish anymore and usually a water change is not done until ammonia and nitrite hit zero and nitrates become detectable.
Yes. Go ahead and start your skimmer. It won't hinder the cycle and it needs to be broken in, especially if it's brand new. If the skimmer is new, thoroughly clean it with warm soapy water and rinse very well with cold water to remove any oily film from the manufacturing process.
The brown algae is most likely diatoms and is normal and will go away on it's own in a few days.
We need some more info to help you much more.
1. What size tank?
2. What water are you using? Tap, RO, RO/DI?
3. What salt mix are you using?
4. What brand and type test kits do you have?
5. How are you measuring salinity? Hydrometer or refractometer?
6. Do you have powerheads in the tank and what are they?
7. What will be your primary biological filtration? Rock, sand and skimmer? Canister?....etc.
8. What is the goal for this tank? Fish only with live rock, Coral Reef?
9. If you plan to keep coral, what coral interests you?
|
