steveangela1

I came home from work to see a ugly rusty color in my sw tank.... its not going away.
My nitrates are hanging at 5, nitrite 0, ammonia 0, ph 8, and salinty 1.023

I have no livestock in the tank right now, I was planning on a cleaner crew this weekend, but now I am seriously wondering what to do?

I am using tap water, which in my freshwater tanks hasn't been a problem, but I do know phosphates can be in a sw tank especially causing diatom algae.

So should I just drain the water and fill'er up w/ water from the store, or use distilled water? The store is an hour away and it will be impossible to do weekly water changes using their water.

That leaves me w/ distilled water? should I drain the water down and use it mixed w/ the salt?

I cannot afford a r/o unit at this time.

Also using the nano tank 14g, w/ the cured live rock should I be using purple up, or some supplement in the tank right now?

Shawnie

ive read many threads with sw tanks having diatoms...and your tank is new so I would say thats what it is...eyesore, but harmless as in fw tanks...

Hypnox

They'll go away after a couple weeks. They are harmless and I would suggest sticking with your clean up crew plans as they will even help to clear it up.

steveangela1

OH the horror..... my water testing today at the store... good to know I was cycling but no cleanup crew: ammonia 2.0, nitrite 1.0, nitrates 20, ph 8.4, phosphate .4, carb harndess was 3.8meg/l.....

so my solution, I bought the protein skimmer for the biocube, got a phosphate filter, changed some water out, my salinity was a tad high plus to help w/ the nitrates.

The good news is I am cycling, and its just diatoms and the more I learn about them the less I am afraid of the rusty ugly things. They are jsut apart of this wonderful cycle I get to sit back and watch.

SO Its going to be a nother bit before I get any little critters for my tank, but patience is a virtue when saltwater reefs are in mind!
A little kid part in me can't wait, but the part that gets excited at the "color of the day" is enjoying the cycle as well....

sgould

Hang in there...you're taking the right steps, and you have a good attitude. You'll have a great tank in no time!

steveangela1

Thanks, I am going to do some water testing this morning after changing out some water yesterday and getting some dead stuff off the rocks yesterday and see if it helped....