I'm done cycleing my tank (i think) it's been about a month w/ 3 damsels. it's a 55gal tank with a cpr bakpak filterskimmer, and 1 NO 40w bulb. There is a 5 inch sand bed, and water in the tank, the three damsels have died unfortunately. I took them out of the tank within a few hours of each death, that was about a week ago. Now there is brown stuff growing on my sand it's just a small layer but it's spreading everywhere. The light is on 24/7 with nothing live in the tank, could that be causeing the growth? I was going to check the water tommorrow and see if it was fish ready, but the brown growth concarned me. what should i do?
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Brown stuff
- Thread starter Pierce09
- Start date
The brown growth sounds like a very common diatom bloom....will eventually go away. Try a search for "diatom" and I bet you'll find a ton on info out there....very common in newly cycled systems.
I'd see about reducing your lighting from 24/7 to something closer to a normal day/night cycle....most systems run lights on/off to simulate day night cycles. I use a couple of digital timers to turn mine on/off on a regular schedule....good luck developing your system.
I'd see about reducing your lighting from 24/7 to something closer to a normal day/night cycle....most systems run lights on/off to simulate day night cycles. I use a couple of digital timers to turn mine on/off on a regular schedule....good luck developing your system.
It is part of the normal cycle. It is diatoms and bacteria taking hold and will, in time go away(assuming you keep parameters stable). I would continue to feed the empty tank some foods to feed the bacteria and complete the cycle.
Also, it is not a good idea to cycle with live animals. Those damsels suffered a terrible death. It is better to use a piece of shrimp or two. I'm not flamming you, most of us have done it and have learned better ways.
I also think you should go to a regular day/light cycle. Lights on 10-12 hours a day would be fine. My other suggestion(if you didn't do it already) is to remove the Bio Bale from the skimmer.
Also, it is not a good idea to cycle with live animals. Those damsels suffered a terrible death. It is better to use a piece of shrimp or two. I'm not flamming you, most of us have done it and have learned better ways.
I also think you should go to a regular day/light cycle. Lights on 10-12 hours a day would be fine. My other suggestion(if you didn't do it already) is to remove the Bio Bale from the skimmer.
Biobale will just take away bacteria that will work better in you LR and DSB. Plus, the biobale's end product will be nitrate, so this means the cycle is not completed and may make your nitrates go up. The bacteria on the biobale are all aerobic and will not house anaerobic bacteria, which are the ones that complete the cycle.
i use a cpr too, and have removed the biobale.
i took out 1/4 of it at a time. i dont know if it houses enough bacteria
that removing it all at once would be detrimental to you tank,
but i would take it out a little at a time to be on the safe side.
it makes a good space to put a bag of carbon or resin in too.
JUST MAKE SURE YOU WEIGH IT DOWN SO IT DOESNT FLOAT UP
AND COVER THE RETURN HOLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this happened to me the first time and my old lady flipped out
when she woke up in the morning and stepped in a puddle of saltwater.
i took out 1/4 of it at a time. i dont know if it houses enough bacteria
that removing it all at once would be detrimental to you tank,
but i would take it out a little at a time to be on the safe side.
it makes a good space to put a bag of carbon or resin in too.
JUST MAKE SURE YOU WEIGH IT DOWN SO IT DOESNT FLOAT UP
AND COVER THE RETURN HOLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this happened to me the first time and my old lady flipped out
when she woke up in the morning and stepped in a puddle of saltwater.
The entire tank is full of nitrifying bacteria, not just live rock. The sand also contains nitrifying bacteria. However, pulling all the bioballs out at once will cause another mini-cycle while the tank's population of bacteria adjusts to the load. If you don't have anything in the tank, then the load is very low, if not non-existent. I would definately add LR before adding any fish or animals, but LR is not a requirement for yanking the bioballs (IMHO).
-Tom
-Tom
Ok let's say I cycled my tank on aug 1st. with about 5 small pices of shrimp? This tank only had a DSB and a cpr bakpak WITH biobale. (NO LIVE ROCK) no fish (or anything else for that matter) were ever added for three months, (1)will the bacteria stil be there or (2)will i have to cycle again?
You will still have bacteria, but the population will be very limited. So adding any fish or other living animal will most likely cause a small ammonia spike until the population can catch up. This goes for a tank at any stage. Plunking 4 heathy fish into an established reef tank will cause a small ammonia spike. However, if the tank already has a significant bioload, the size and duration of the spike will be limited.
-Tom
-Tom
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