The 2nd outbreak of algae

During the 2nd week of the tanks life, it went through a diatom bloom. It turned a really ugly brown and I thought there goes my idea of a nice clean tank. But with some good circulation, water maintenance and patience, the diatoms died out and the tank cleaned up.

I am now experiencing the 2nd algae invasion. This time it is a green slime algae that covers the sand bed and has started to creep up on the rocks. At the first signs of this algae, I wasn't to concerned as I thought my clean up crew should be able to handle it. Unfortunately, its not just about having a clean up crew and letting them get on with their business. A person will need the right cleanup crew to deal with the problem as well as provide a helping hand like Mother Nature does.

So I have 3 choices. I can treat the water with chemicals to get rid of the algae (not my preferred approach), I can expand on the clean up crew (this may not be enough on its own and can cause compatibility issues later on) or I can increase the flow in my tank (specifically on the substrate).

My current power head turns over the tanks water 20 times an hour. This is what most reefers require. However, the jet of water that it is shooting out is a very focused jet and I can't get it to "sweep" the gravel very nicely without creating a huge hole in the substrate. It is therefore recommended that a person gets a circulator that produces a wider stream. This stream will move a large mass of water and you will most likely prevent you from creating craters in your substrate.

That is the first option. Another option for movement is to add a 2nd power head that shoots water in the opposite direction to create a turbulence in the tank or just a 2nd stream to catch the dead spots. Most people put these alternating power heads on timers and try and create a sort of tidal action. The idea is that you have them on for 6 hours and off for another 6 while the other power head kicks in. It is even better if you create an overlap that will result in turbulence where the 2 streams meet. Have corals, I thought this is a no no, but I have been advised that the turbulence kicks up the substrate and some nutrients hiding in there for my corals to feed on. It will also help prevent the worry of gases building up in my substrate waiting to explode and kill all my inhabitants. So I ordered myself a Newave 1.6 adj to try and see if this will help.

Week 2: End of the first nitrogen cycle

It's nearly the end of week 2 and there have been some developments since the new arrivals.

Firstly, the clowns have a new Tank mate: a yellow tang. I picked him up from Birchwood aquatics, which has a very nice range of fish and healthy looking as well. I know it's a bit early for him as there won't be a lot of green algae for him to graze on, but I am supplementing that with some algae circles that I can hang in the tank.

Then there was the invasion of the brown algae! After getting freaked out and doing some research, found out this is normal for a new tank. It signals the end of the first nitrogen cycle. This algae is actually called diatoms. This algae feeds off the nitrate that is in the water. They will go away and turn into the healthy green algae as the tank continues to mature. That doesn't mean that it should be left unchecked.

The pros of having this algae is that it helps keep your nitrates in check. If you checked your tanks nitrates at this stage, it should result in a zero reading. Therefore, if you removed all this algae in one foul swoop, your nitrate readings will shoot up. It would also result in a major overall of the tank and therefore you will start the cycle again. That's one thing that I am learning very quickly, this hobby is about balance and patience. 2 things I struggle with!

So what to do? Some people suggest that you can do a light siphon of your gravel to pick up these guys. You could also do a fanning of the gravel to lift them up so they get picked up by your filter. If your rocks are getting really bad, a light rub remove this from the rocks as well.

I decided to leave my rocks as they were as I want to get some green algae there for my tang. I also did a light siphon of the sand. This is 2 part as I wanted to remove some water and add RO water to the system as my salinity was to high.