tank build......(update got lights)

[chunkofocean125]

hello all....

Im new to the reef world and loving it sofar.
My tank has been running for about 5 weeks. i came home today to find a rust colored coating starting on everything in the tank. (live rock, heater glass, top of sand, all have this build up. it wasnt there yesterday or atleast not this visible for me to notice but today WOW.....

Does anybody here have an ideal of what it could be?
I must add that in the tank presently i have about 3 red leg crabs alive( 4 died one by one in past week and a half....6 blue leg crabs and a damsel fish that was giving to me with the live rock i bought used from someone who had just closed down there tank and also worked at big al's. rock was very very nice and sat in a tub with jet and heater for 2 months before putting in new tank....

any help would be crateful..
Thanks...Marc

[acers]

Hi Marc

From my experience the red algea is a normal cycle in a new tank.  Keep up with the water changes and don't overfeed and it should clear up.  I have nassareus snails that mix up the sand and I found that helped.

Blue legs are likely the culprit in your dead crabs they are very agressive.

Good Luck

[Darth]

could be just diatoms, just a part of the cycle it should clear in a few days

[Bob P]

Sure sounds like diatom algae bloom. It's normal for a new tank.
Diatoms feed off the silica in your new salt mix. When silica is used up
by the algae, it will dissapear normally. A week or two.
I assume you mixed all new saltwater when you started up?
Hermits may have starved in such a new tank.
Just seem odd that diatoms took so long to start, 5 weeks. That could be
because your live rock was in good shape, filtering nasties, and slowed the
process a bit.

[chunkofocean125]

Thanks for the reply....
Yes i did do a complet new water salt mix. i bought a four stage ro system also to help with water quality for the initial mix...

i just finished doing a 35gallon water change to help. the other thing im taking into consideration is i only have 3 powerheads (all 1400gph each). plus my 600gph return from sump. i dont think thats enought water movement....im thinking of maybe getting two more 1400gph power heads to help with that.

i also just installed my homemade lights just 8 days ago.( 2-Home Depot 4 foot(double tube) floresants installed side by side with there highest k rating available.(6400k) i think...... could that of started it?  its on a 12 hour timer...

Thanks again for all ur help.

[Severum]

No way to tell whether your flow is good enough unless we know the size of your tank. Its too much for a 10 gallon but not enough for a 300 gallon...

You're probably going to have to rethink your lighting. The thing that 6500K is good for growing in saltwater is pretty much algae. If you plan to have corals those bulbs will give you terrible coloring. You should be aiming for 14000K and higher.

[Darth]

12 hours is a long photo period for fish only and with 6400k bulbs I am assuming you keeping fish only

[Bob P]

At any rate, ease up on the water changes for now.
Give the tank time to cycle without addding a bunch of new salt mix
to feed the diatoms more. And for sure back off on the light cycle.
So far it sounds like there is nothing in your tank that requires any
light at all. Your damsel is o.k. in the dark.

[chunkofocean125]

Wow.... thanks for all the info..... great comunity u got here....

Ill start at the beginning.... I have a 125g long(6') w/ dual (diy) drilled overflows boxes witch lead to my 45g (breeder tank) diy sump with a slow flow refugium section, skimmer section(getting on when i can afford it., fast flow refugium section and return section.

-------------------------------------------------
l overflow   l                        overflow l              l
l    drop     l                             drop  l   return   l
l               l         slow fuge               l    pump   l
l               l                                     l              l
l               l ------------------------- l              l
l               l  l  l                                l              l
l               l  l  l                                l              l   
l  skim       l  l  l      fast fuge              l              l
l               l  l  l                                l              l
l               l  l  l                                l              l
-------------------------------------------------

the reason behind the lights was because my live rock have BEAUTIFUL coral line algae. nice purples blue red......i mean gourgous. so i wanted to save them till i can aford a proper lighting system(im looking in getting the unit with t5 bulbs, timer, night light etc...699.00)

im not much of one for the computer so im going to play with this picture posting stuff to figure it out.( i have my whole set up on my camera. once i figure it out ill try to post them to show u guys my set up. im very proud of my accomplishments with this project and would like to share with you's.

i just have one question tho..... presently i have filter socks on my two overflow drains dumping in my sump.....should i have more than that filtering or is that enought....( like should i have a filter pad or somthing instaled somewhere in my sump set up?

Thanks alot....
Marc

[ordi260]

i just have one question tho..... presently i have filter socks on my two overflow drains dumping in my sump.....should i have more than that filtering or is that enought....( like should i have a filter pad or somthing instaled somewhere in my sump set up?

Personally, I would'nt put more sponge or filter socks.  Just make sure to change / clean it often and you should be fine!

[Hookup]

IMO filter socks are a great thing.  I have them on my sump line and on my skimmer line.  I change them every two days and they are dirty!   They work so well.

Sounds like a great setup.  Looking forward to the photos.

Why a slow and fast fuge?  I do not think I've heard of that before.

[Darth]

to upload photos you need to get photo hosting site like photobucket, upload the photo there and they actually give you the img tags to post them in forums

[chunkofocean125]

the reason behind the slow and fast fuge is that  it doesnt really affect anything in the flow aspect, cause both drains land to the skimmer portion but later on when i need somewhere to grow my frags or different types of macro algae ill have that separet compartment in my sump to do so....or also can be used to slowly introduce my new friends to there new water. also another reason i came up with was that the longer the travel threw the sump system the better for the water no?? gives time for the water to get filtered........

[Bob P]

Bingo on the slow fuge!
IMO Longer in the refuge chamber is good.
Mines a separate tank from the rest of the sump system.
With a ball valve to control flow. Water takes 2-3 hours to
cycle through.

[chunkofocean125]

as promissed....pics

[JetJumper]

Looks good!  But the lights have got to go!.. Can't use those to get good colours.  It will promote a lot of Algae growth as well.

[Hookup]

I like the purple room!  LOL... very cool!

Things look nice and clean.  Great beginnings.

[chunkofocean125]

lol.....that room was going purple no matter what (wife had it set, so to compensate i said fine but i pick the purple....
( the manliest purple i can find that wasnt to dark) its a walk threw room that leads to the master bedroom on the third floor.(basicly its the attic space of a 1900 style house turned into living quarters(master bedroom, walk threw area, full washroom/laudry room.so all this to say.....if those walls up there are purple, whos going to see it......Unless i take pics..... ...

Marc

[Hookup]

lol.....that room was going purple no matter what (wife had it set, so to compensate i said fine but i pick the purple....
( the manliest purple i can find that wasnt to dark) its a walk threw room that leads to the master bedroom on the third floor.(basicly its the attic space of a 1900 style house turned into living quarters(master bedroom, walk threw area, full washroom/laudry room.so all this to say.....if those walls up there are purple, whos going to see it......Unless i take pics..... ...

Marc

Manly purple... LOL... 

[chunkofocean125]

what can i say.........