ggmichael

Ok is it normal to go through the scared worried stage? It has been one week since we put the LR in and I guess everything is fine but I am scared of doing the wrong thing and blowing it. We checked all the levels this past week and everything was in normal range except Nitrites. I am not impatient as far as wanting to put fish in but I am impatient in wanting to know if we have too much algae already. We have a pretty dark brown substances (I am presuming this is algae) all over alot of the rocks. Also alot of pale green little ball/bulb things. We are also seeing alot of very very tiny snails, a few feather dusters and the crushed coral at the base is kinda covered with a yellow/pale substance. We are going to do a water change this coming weekend (it will be just under 2 weeks by that time) and hubby doesn't think we should check levels again until then. We started keeping the light off just to help reduce algae. Okay long post, am I worried for nothing?

GG

jd@ga

NOooooo! The algae is fine leave it alone. This is normal stage of cycling . Doing a water change now will start your tank back over at day one. Trust me your making a mistake changing water now. You also need to keep on schedule with your lights. The algae growth is normal.

ahill3780

Hey GG,

Not at all, its good that you show such concern for your tank. It is ok to change out the water as it will help keep the nutrient levels down. The live rock will ensure that there is a steady enough supply of ammonia that the bacterial colonies will not suffer from the change.

As JD points out the algae is a normal part of the cycle and it is going to be with you for a couple of months. Once the algae finally dies away completely then that signals the final completion of the Cycle.

You are going to have hundreds of these baby snails indefinately from now on. They are very beneficial and you shouldn't worry about them. The feather dusters you are seeing are likely feather worms (small dusters) and they are typical as well.

You are fine with leaving off testing until after the next change.

If you think your post is long then you haven't seen mine! You usually can't shut me up!

HTH,
Aaron

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ggmichael

Ok, but what about the light? Aaron says off or on, no biggie and JD says keep the light on its schedule. We have been keeping it off most of the day. We just checked, the ammonia has come down to about .2 (if that), nitrite is about .5 and nitrate is about 7.5. With that low of ammonia, is a water change still safe? and the light? thanks so much for your help. I'm trying to chill GG

ahill3780

As I've stated before the lights are up to you at this point. They are not going to help anything in the tank at present by being on and I would personally suggest leaving them off to save a little cost on your bills for the moment.

I guess a good compromise would be to keep them off when you are not looking at the tank and turn them on any time you want to sit and stare.

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ggmichael

okie dokie, and you still think a water change is fine even with the low ammonia level? You are a lifesaver Aaron, thanks so much.