• how to deal with this?

  • Tanya

I am starting my marine aquarium four days after laying down live rocks. The rocks and gravel have developed something that I don't understand, whether it's algae or cyanobacteria... in short, some kind of brown stuff. There are no nitrites, nitrates are 10-20, and there is no ammonia, or if there is, it's very little, less than 0.25. The aquarium is a Resun PL500 with a Deltec MCE 600 skimmer. In the morning, a little sunlight hits the aquarium, but otherwise, the lighting is standard. My question is how to deal with this? Or should I just wait for it to pass on its own? Thank you in advance!

Robin

The aquarium is maturing - this is normal. It will happen soon enough.

Diana8604

Don't worry, it's just one of the stages, I had the same thing. 7-10 days.

Robert

Do I need to turn on all the lights? I mean the white and blue lamp, or just the white one? Or the blue one?

Heather6148

I would only use blue light for now until this crap settles down, adding a little bit of white and blue as well, and by the time I launch the creatures, I would use the light, so to speak, at 100%.

Kevin3114

I wouldn't turn on any main lighting at all - if it's completely dark in the room, I would just turn on a minimal desk lamp with energy-saving light for about 5 hours, from the side or above, just a little... During the first start, everything was lit up, and I saw that the strombus snails with mohawks were crawling around - then the light dimmed... In a couple of weeks, I'll start the second time - the light will be as I mentioned above. Buddy, where did you get your live rocks?

Cassandra7840

emergency

Zoe7451

It's not dark in the room; I have a sunny side until noon. The aquarium is near the window, not far away. The rocks are nice; I like them. There's a bunch of fan worms, a small one, but I can't catch it. And, of course, there are aiptasia. About five of them are sitting in a bunch, so I can't reach them.

Thomas1044

Then I recommend turning off the light completely for about 7-10-12 days. In a great residential complex (living stones) - there were no complaints - so everything is fine - turn off the light and everything will be fine.

Darlene4238

Can snails be planted?

Katie4842

When I brought the stones and placed them in the aquarium, there were some orange spots on them that glowed so cool under the blue LEDs at night. Now they have disappeared somewhere. What could that have been, and will it appear again?

Rebecca1419

Judging by the photos of J.K. (live rocks), they have food there until 2013 - I would have already introduced the snails.

Julie3950

I have one, I think, strombus with eyes that jumps? Two are sitting in the substrate with only their siphons sticking out, and the third one sits still during the day and moves around the stones and glass at night. This is all in a small aquarium where I was training. The two that are in the substrate only come out to breathe or when I feed the fish; they gather food faster than a dog and a boxer. Damn, I was told the name, but I forgot.

Laura4892

Wow... I don't quite understand... there are already fish and it's only been 4 days since the start?

Caroline1599

And he won't hurt the snails? I wanted to catch him, but no way, he's cautious and sly.

Jeremy3637

I have two aquariums. One is small, and it has a magnifica, two clownfish, a dogfish, an algae eater, a boxer shrimp, zoanthids, a mushroom, and green corals that look like grass, which hide at night. There are also some worms, but those are rocks from the marine aquarium that I've been keeping for a month and a half; there are three to four kilograms of them. I want to add them to that aquarium and then transplant all the fish. After a year, when I move, I want to get an aquarium of about 500 liters.

Amber

there were just a few small growths, but very little

Sara4035

If you want to kill the strombus (snail with eyes) - go ahead! Your aquarium is maturing. The nitrogen cycle is being established. Ammonium levels are spiking, and you were planning to introduce snails. Stay away from the aquarium for about two weeks! Don't even put your hands in there.

Andrea9320

Ammonium is normal, API tests show no nitrite, nitrates up to 20, there are tests for ammonium as well, but I didn't quite understand how to use them.

Destiny

So, your nitrogen cycle has stabilized in 4 days. Ammonium has converted to nitrite, and nitrite to nitrate... so you can start stocking the aquarium! Just kidding, the tests can be misleading. Wait for the algae bloom to pass, and then start stocking according to the food chain. Usually, it takes 3-8 days, and the rocks will be clean on their own. Read some literature.

Sharon

According to the timeline of the topic, 7 days have already passed - you can start the snails.

Jennifer

Off-topic, it's already late! The snails should have been released for the 4th run - by the 7th, it should already be populated with fish.

Kristin

Well, if a person wants snails, that's a sacred thing - desire always wins, and snails can survive even until the water is filled in the aquarium due to their physiological features, except for Tridacna.

Justin9867

Strombuses are dying off in droves.

Susan

The sun shining in the aquarium is bad. But completely turning off the lighting is not possible, otherwise the maturation of the aquarium will be delayed for a long time.

Brandy1134

Why is it bad for sunlight to hit the aquarium?

James4342

All the algae passed the strombus, the live dog too, I have tests with Sichen and API, two cannot lie although who knows.

Joseph591

It's just the way it is, and it comes from the freshwater fish keepers - well, if you have a side that gets more sun, I had one side in the sun, but briefly - in the morning for about three hours - and everything grew and smelled there. The Indonesian who put the British Academy of Seas and Oceans in a dead end by showing them his aquariums with a single pump and sunlight - he actively used this method - but he still had one actinic light hanging, and he replaced the water directly from the reef since he lived on its shore.

Jason9385

I completely agree. My aquarium is 10 days old, I got the stones from a (super) store called "Lapa Ekonomka." The water was cloudy for 4 days after placing the stones and then became clear. Up until now, there are no signs of algae at all.

Lindsay

So you still have everything ahead of you, the aquarium matures in 3-8 months. The first step is 10 to 30 days, and it will be a hint for you. Each sailor has their own approach and understanding of the processes occurring in the aquarium, and the smarter and more thoughtfully you approach it, the less you will be affected by the lower life forms in your reef.

Rodney3101

I read that your aquarium has matured for a very long time and is now almost an unkillable reef... could you share your observations and advice? And how long has your aquarium been maturing? Thank you.

Mary

My water was not cloudy at all; I have a Deltec MCE 600 and the original Resun filter, which has foam, balls, and ceramics.

Eric

If you didn't message me privately, but somewhere in the threads, maybe you could nudge me... I would love to read it... I've been on the forum for a long time, but I haven't seen it. Thank you.

Anne

I set up my aquarium based on the advice of Alexey and Anatoly. It took about six months from the time of salting to the planting of the first inhabitants. I haven't had any particular problems with the lower life forms (knock on wood). This is a topic about my aquarium.

Heather9815

I have been involved with him since the first days of his work with the tropical reef aquarium. And I don't remember any aquarium, and he has gone through the installation and startup process of four, taking a long time to mature... But I do know for sure that he did everything according to the rules, thoughtfully, and placed an emphasis on biology. Therefore, in fact, his marine aquariums matured literally in one day. I stand by my words because I witnessed all the stages of the process. You can believe it or not, it's up to you. We, I repeat, do not impose anything on anyone.

Yolanda

How about a day and where can I read about it? I had to move all the creatures to a new aquarium on the seventh day, it will be what it will be, I don't know... for now, all the parameters are normal...

Aaron

There’s no point in you coming up with anything... I have nothing but RESPECT for your experience. I understand that you’re tired of explaining things to newcomers who then pour tap water and shout that you’re exaggerating... I would probably act the same way if I were in your place. Well, what can we do, we’ll have to gather information bit by bit... and it’s good that there’s a forum... without it, my desire to have a marine aquarium would have remained just a desire.

Jeanne

Similarly!!!

Erin2730

No one is asking to go on and on; they are asking for a link or a hint about where to read about it! And the forum is needed for communication, to help newcomers.

Joseph9057

One must read everything here - there are no classifications or categorizations - which is a pity - there is a lot of valuable, non-commercial material here, and there will be even more.

Stephen5857

It turns out that we newcomers create a bunch of identical threads with the same question "what to do," just under different titles, while the "experts" respond... they respond and don't keep track of where they answered what. So later, to find and remember where they answered, they have to sift through the entire forum looking for their messages... we are all human, and almost everyone has other concerns besides sitting on the forum. The solution is simple - read the forum, use your common sense, and everything will be fine. And if it really comes down to it, I haven't seen any threads where someone was refused help (unless the question is completely ridiculous, like how to turn on the light in an aquarium?).