Fri Feb 01, 2008 3:14 pm GMT   Reply      

as a new comer to Salt Tanks -I find myself over informed - -I have been to different marine shops and have multiple opinions on the live rock theory -{now my opinion is that the ocean has live rock, why shouldn't I ?} but I see one LFS with beautiful large healthy tanks with fake rocks, fake plants and fresh water substrate -another with 5 million pounds of live rock and sand -just as beautiful - -now my tank {20gallon long} has half live rock [about 8 lbs] and half "fake" rock dried coral with some paint on them [about 10 lbs] and a 1 1/2 inch crushed shell substrate - -and well i'm still cycleing, water is pretty stable and fish seem to be happy but the brown crap is driving me nuts and I have some green hair algae as well - -OPINIONS ???

whisper 20 HOB filter with carbon bag and Media tubes {macaroni looking things}
satilite compact light {white lights run 8 am to 930 pm, blue light now runs 6 pm to 9 pm for better viewing] one moon light LED on all the time
one aquaclear 20 power head
2 yellowtail dams
1 blue chromis

Fri Feb 01, 2008 5:39 pm GMT   Reply      

snowboss the fake decoration rocks will realy drive you nuts you are going to constantly clean them. if it was my tank i would take them out. i would add some dry reef rock its about 2 or 3 bucks a pound.it will take awhile but it will eventualy grow pink/purple/red carlgeis algea. if not buy buy some more live rock. and also i prefer aroginite the fine stuff over crushed coral. its cheaper then live sand and in time it will be alive and full of criters. to get things going faster you could add a pound or 2 with the aragonit. every one gets the brown stuff when they start. give it time and it will go away. run actinic 1 hour longer at night. do you have a protien skimmer??

Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:08 am GMT   Reply      

alright... heres your problem. as you stated your tank is young, so its still cycling... algae blooms are part of cycles and different algaes will pop up throughout the cycle until your tank is fully cycled and will eventually die off. the nitrates from the fish and the food you are feeding them is also feeding the algae so the algae may never go away. dont worry this happens to a lot of new reefers, they get overly excited and add to quickly, which is why i stress take your time. get some inverts, such as crabs, snails, hermit crabs, urchins and they will take care of the algae problem. lights should only rub 10 hrs a day, and the light will also feed the algae so maybe run your lights from 12pm to 10pm... the dead rock isnt a problem, and mixed with live rock, it to will also become live rock... so i wouldnt worry to much about it, or cleaning it... just buy different inverts and do a couple of water changes and you should be good