Hi guys I have had my tank set up and running for 4 days live sand and live rock, tonight when the lights went out I could see lots of amphipods running around and what looks like long legs of a star fish poking out of a hole in the rock, is this normal for a tank that has not cycled? Or am I not going to see a cycle with the live rock and live sand, also using rodi water?
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Cycle?
- Thread starter gary
- Start date
LunaReef
Non-member
The pods and starfish are signs that your rock has a good amount of life in it (which is good) but not an indication of a cycled tank. It is normal to see these things at this point. The tank has to complete the nitrogen cycle to be considered "cycled." The live rock will have some die-off on it in a new tank.
Also - if it is a brittle star, keep an eye on it later on when you add fish. They are great scavengers but are also opportunistic. I had one that got large and ate a juvenile Dragon Wrasse.
Also - if it is a brittle star, keep an eye on it later on when you add fish. They are great scavengers but are also opportunistic. I had one that got large and ate a juvenile Dragon Wrasse.
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Just measure your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to see how you are doing in terms of achieving a balanced cycle in your system. The cycle doesn't complete, it's an ongoing biological process. If your levels are zero, you are in balance, i.e. the bacteria are able to process all of the currently produced waste in your system.
Adding or removing livestock or bacteria (like if you took out a piece of rock for instance) would upset the balance. Depending upon how big the change was, you'd see a proportional change in the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate during the time that the bacterial population was adjusting to the change. Then once balance is achieved again, you'd see them hit zero again.
Adding or removing livestock or bacteria (like if you took out a piece of rock for instance) would upset the balance. Depending upon how big the change was, you'd see a proportional change in the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate during the time that the bacterial population was adjusting to the change. Then once balance is achieved again, you'd see them hit zero again.
Cool. So the bacteria are doing their thing and their population is in the process of adjusting to match the available ammonia in the water. Once things hit zero, you'll be in good shape. Just keep the other parameters stable and don't do anything to mess with the process, like add livestock or raw shrimp or any of that jazz.
Once you're staying at zero and you start to enter the algae phase, you can start to slowly add some critters to form the start of your cleanup crew. And that will results in an increase in bioload, so you'll have a tiny blip while the bacteria population grows to match the increase in available food (ammonia) from the new livestock. That will happen any time you add or remove something. But as long as you add things slowly over time, you'll keep those blips small and everybody should be happy.
Once you're staying at zero and you start to enter the algae phase, you can start to slowly add some critters to form the start of your cleanup crew. And that will results in an increase in bioload, so you'll have a tiny blip while the bacteria population grows to match the increase in available food (ammonia) from the new livestock. That will happen any time you add or remove something. But as long as you add things slowly over time, you'll keep those blips small and everybody should be happy.
Ford625
Non-member
Is it hair algae? I'm currently fighting mine off in my tank. It's caused by excess nutrients like nitrates and phosphates. Here is a link of what people write to me:
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?115186-Will-hair-algae-disappear
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?115186-Will-hair-algae-disappear
dark or light and do u have a lot of it? I guess I would take the rock out and scrub it in salt water.............
you may have to compress the pic..............
If it were me, I would take the rock out and scrub it in salt water,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the brown stuff might be cyno?
The Ng Thing
Non-member
Yea I agree, take it out and nuke it while you can.
delta
Impatient Reefer
Yes looks more like Dino but lights out s the best way to tell if it is Dinos. if it disappears after lights out and reappears when lights come on then it is most likely Dinos
When Dinos are really bad you can watch them form in the water column in seconds scary stuff. MoeK used to referred to it as the scourge of death
If you are cycling your tank and have no coral just turn off the lights and call it a day
scrubbing the rocks will only extend his cycle and given his parameter the stuff has plenty to feed on so it will come right back.
When Dinos are really bad you can watch them form in the water column in seconds scary stuff. MoeK used to referred to it as the scourge of death
If you are cycling your tank and have no coral just turn off the lights and call it a day
scrubbing the rocks will only extend his cycle and given his parameter the stuff has plenty to feed on so it will come right back.
