Kevman

Hey guys, Here's my tank as of right now. I just fired it up a week and a half ago and there's already an extreme algae bloom. In the big tank (30 gal) I have a melon plant, and a fern, with a Dempsey Cichlid, 2 angel fish, a tetra and a otocinculus cat. This tank was cycled with a bag of gravel from my previous tank. Anyway, here's a pic..

nyrmel

looks really bare and empty but I can see from the reclection on the glass that it looks to benear a window where it gets some sun I could be wrong but it would seem that algea grows more where there is extra food for it maybe giving it some competition would help tone it down? like a few plants or maybe how much do you keep lights on it daily? the algea I would think transfered some with the gravel as a week seems like very little time for it to bloom so well from scratch well there are my thots I am sure someone will pop up

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NyrmelNeewbie extrodinary
luvr of things furry, finny, or the color purple
20 gallon planted few dozen mystery snails(bulldozers), 1 molly plethera of guppies Warning I can't spell to save my life, & I tend to ramble... alot Also an avid outdoor ponder with 5 koi, a dozen goldfish and 3 cats and my newest Justice the dog!

Kevman

The refugium light is on 24/7, but the majority of the algae is on the sides of the tank..

missfish

My guess would be when you transplanted the gravel you also gave the alage a free ticket! I reckon a little bit of alage is a good thing in a new tank it might help keep and ammonia and nitrite in check. Not sure if that is right but I've always left it alone in my cycling tanks.
Just to clarify, In the photo the refugium is behind the main tank, and is the silver bit in the photo?
Can't wait for more pics of the project!

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Kevman

Yep, thats the refugium. We decided that if we wrapped it in tin foil, I could leave the light on 24 hours a day without screwing up the fish in their normal balance of night and day.

I'm going to be getting rid of the Demspey cichlid though, very very aggressive, if anyone wants him, come get him..

Rychek

What do you have in the refugium?

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90 gal Mixed Reef

harley3k

And the tank is way to small for both the JD's and the Angels. If you're looking for SA Cichlids that would work, maybe a pair of Sajica's or Convicts if you want to deal with the breeding mess.

Kevman

I put the JD in another tank, it was attacking the angels.

In the refugium I have a Otocinculus, a bunch of a grass like fresh water plant, and some Hornwart, that stuff that grows ridiculously fast.

Duffee

I guess the next logical question would be why do you have a refugium? I'm not trying to pick just curious.

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Kevman

Decided to try something different. Plus the whole setup cost less than $20 to make