Been over 15 years since I cycled a tank, but after losing my tank to flood last year I'm finally getting my reef back.
Mixed new water ( Quincy tap water). new sand (petco. not livesand) and rock that sat dry in a rubbermaid tub for a year.
Ran it for a week added bottled bacteria daily and put in 3 green chromis and kept an eye on parameters. After a few weeks ammonia and nitrites went 0 and got a 10 reading on nitrates. Fish are doing great and all looks well. Running Chinese LED fixture for 11hours ( 7 full spectrum and 4 on sun rise sunset cycle).
Right on cue BOOM! Diatom bloom. Looks like water is boiling. Rust dust everywhere. cut back on lights, did 20% water change (RODI) .Yesterday picked up some GFO and a reactor( figuring tap water was prob a mistake) . Also added 50 crabs and 50 snail package from saltwater.com.
Looked a little better today with snails and crabs leaving ski trails and blew off a the rust and ran my trusty magnum HOB with micron filter ( for a few hours) to try to remove some of the dust. Looks good tonight and not nearly as many bubbles rising from the sand and rock.
Question. Stay the course? Let the GFO and crew do their thing? Water is still not crystal clear and wondering if I should run some carbon or purigen but my nature is to let things settle as I suspect this is all pretty normal.
My skimmer is tough to dial in but I'm getting some stuff out in the cup. Should I be cutting the lights? Adding a Gobie? ( i want one) or just riding the bloom out.
I forgot how this goes in the beginning cause its been so long. Should I be trying to prevent this bloom or embracing it?
Mixed new water ( Quincy tap water). new sand (petco. not livesand) and rock that sat dry in a rubbermaid tub for a year.
Ran it for a week added bottled bacteria daily and put in 3 green chromis and kept an eye on parameters. After a few weeks ammonia and nitrites went 0 and got a 10 reading on nitrates. Fish are doing great and all looks well. Running Chinese LED fixture for 11hours ( 7 full spectrum and 4 on sun rise sunset cycle).
Right on cue BOOM! Diatom bloom. Looks like water is boiling. Rust dust everywhere. cut back on lights, did 20% water change (RODI) .Yesterday picked up some GFO and a reactor( figuring tap water was prob a mistake) . Also added 50 crabs and 50 snail package from saltwater.com.
Looked a little better today with snails and crabs leaving ski trails and blew off a the rust and ran my trusty magnum HOB with micron filter ( for a few hours) to try to remove some of the dust. Looks good tonight and not nearly as many bubbles rising from the sand and rock.
Question. Stay the course? Let the GFO and crew do their thing? Water is still not crystal clear and wondering if I should run some carbon or purigen but my nature is to let things settle as I suspect this is all pretty normal.
My skimmer is tough to dial in but I'm getting some stuff out in the cup. Should I be cutting the lights? Adding a Gobie? ( i want one) or just riding the bloom out.
I forgot how this goes in the beginning cause its been so long. Should I be trying to prevent this bloom or embracing it?