Tank cycle

[Jlavine]

My 29g biocube crashed 2 weeks ago due to a suspected ALK spike. All corals, fish, inverts, everything were lost within 36 hours. Here the link for more info: http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum...915-tank-crash-all-gone-but-hope-remains.html

PS: PM me if you have frags for sale at the swap

Problem:
I restarted the tank (described below in detail with parameters) and I am getting an abnormal amount of basic brown algae forming on the glass, sand and rocks. The flow is very high in the tank, though the light cycle and intensity is very high. The algae went away with 2 days in the dark.

Set-up:
After the crash I completely emptied the tank and cleaned everything. The tank has been back up an running for 10 days. I used some previous live rock that was ALK shocked, plus some live rock from an established tank. There is new live sand with a few handfuls of live sand from another established tank. The water is 75% new mixed RO/DI water with Red Sea Pro salt and 25% water from an established tank.

I threw in a few snails, crabs and softies. The tank has an MP10 on 100%, a MJ1200 return and an additional koralia in the tank for extra flow right now. The lights are radion gen 1 with a long 14 hour day cycle on nearly 90% intensity (worked well before, but the light could be adding to this current problem).

Parameters:
Salinity: 1.025
Alk: 9
Ca: 400
Mag: not tested yet
Phosphate: Low to zero (forget range)
Nitrates: Low to zero (forget range)
Temp: 77-80'


Questions:
1) Any idea of why such an algae bloom that I never had before? Is this part of the cycle?

2) How do I know if the tank cycled? All parameters have been normal without any changes. Since a lot in the tank was from a previous established tank, is it maybe ready already?

 

[ReefWreak]

A quick guess.... Diatoms... Part of the cycle. They are likely utilizing nitrates and phosphates, so you aren't detecting any in testing. Wait a week or two for the normal tank biological process to pick up (either green algae, or denitrification), and if you really hate it, you can always siphon it off in your next water change.

Part of the maturing process.

 

[Jlavine]

Yup. That sounds like it exactly when I look it up. Will lower lights, cont water changes and add clean up crew.

Any other thoughts are greatly appreciated.

 

[troywalkerphoto]

Let me know when you are ready and I will get you those frags we discussed

 

[Dan_P]

I would regard your aquarium as "new" from a biological filter and microorganism stadpoint. Cyanobacteria will be a likely grow next, but I hope not. Depending on the size of the biological filter, it could be very easy to overstock by adding livestock to quickly.

 

[Jlavine]

My other established stable tank is due for a 5g water change.


Would it help my cycling tank (30g) to add the 5g from the established tank to it instead of dumping it?

 

[ReefWreak]

Yes, only problem is that if you have nitrates or anything in the big tank that you're trying to get rid of, you'll pass it to the smaller tank. If it's cycling though, it's not really a problem, and should help pass bacteria to the tank, so yea, it can't hurt much.

 

[Jlavine]

The previous diatom bloom I discussed above cleared in 2 weeks and the tank has been stable. The other day I added a bottle of Dr. Tims bacteria. It seems the tank is cycling again as I just got another diatom bloom, though all parameters are normal. Do you think this can be secondary to the bacteria added?

 

[Nandez13]

If your ammonia and nitrite have not spiked again then it's not a new cycle. The second diatom bloom may be attributed to the bacteria you added, water transfer from another tank or just because it's a relatively new tank from a bacteria standpoint. I've never been a fan of adding bacteria or anything that speeds up the natural progression of a new tank. Just let it be. If you keep having diatom/algae problems, you can consider reducing your lighting period a bit until you start adding livestock. If your ammonia/nitrite don't spike and your nitrate levels aren't through the roof, then it may be time to add cleanup crew which may help

 

[BAD FISH]

I would not use the water from the other tank do you have filter stocks in the established tank ? If so use them in your tank that's cycling because it has lots of beneficial bacteria and will help speed the cycle the dirty water won't help much. Just take your time with it if there is one thing I've learned in this hobby its patience. Rushing gets expensive and aggregating. Good luck