algae bloom?

[mattseattle]

ok please don't take this as i'm complaining i don't have algae but i am curious about something.

my tank has been up for about 7 - 8 weeks now and so far my algae is almost null. my tank walls are still as clean as the day i put the first sand and saltwater in. my live rock has the algae it came with but nothing huge.

i added some more sand to my bed a few weeks ago but even it's still white.

my clean up crew consists of 3 hermit crabs, 7 snails, 1 sally light foot and a cleaner shrimp. is it possible these guys are doing this good of a job or am i still in for the ALGAE BLOOM?

this is more of a curiousity question than I WISHED I HAD MORE ALGAE statement.

 

[Gordo]

What lighting do you have and what schedule is it on? I found that my algae bloom didn't explode until I cranked up the lighting to 10 hrs for MH and 12 for VHO.

~Gordo~

 

[mattseattle]

well i just installed my metal halides a few days ago. it's on about an 8 hour cycle right now.

before this lighting i just had NO tubes - about 160 watts that ran for 10 hours.

i thought now with the new MH that I am probably 'complaining' too soon about not having algae

 

[mattseattle]

ok maybe i spoke a little toooooo soon. this morning i woke up and the sides of my tank are starting to get cloudy. i noticed some algae starting to grow.

 

[Gordo]

I give it two more days and your will have a full blown algae bloom on you hands. I'm going to bet diatoms for the first wave. Not that I wish it on you. I just know that metal halide lights can grow some really cool algae (and corals from time to time )

Got any pictures of your tank?

~Gordo~

 

[mattseattle]

yeah i posted one in the gallery. not a great one and it's not since i installed the metal halides. it's really only live rock in the tank along with a sally lightfoot, a cleaner shrimp, 3 hermits and some snails. hopefully after this weekend i'll have a coral or two to go in. i've been letting it cycle and establish almost 2 months now before i add anything.

 

[mattseattle]

coralline algae?

ok i need more advice sorry i have a ton of questions now that i have sufficient lighting for my tank.

how do you promote good algae growth like coralline? does it just come with time? my calcium is hovering right around 350 but from the articles i've read you should have calcium around 420 or so in order to get good coralline growth.

thanks for the input!

 

[SlowBoat]

Your calcium is a little bit on the low side, but not something I would immediately try and correct over a short period of time. Go slow and bring up your calcium to 420 - 450ppm your method of choice. I prefer using kalkwasser.

For the coralline algae growth just have some patience, it takes awhile for it to start growing. When it does you wish that it would stop and slow down when you are cleaning it off the glass/acrylic.

 

[mattseattle]

ok so if i start dosing with kalk just do a slow drip. should i start off with maybe half a teaspoon a gallon then work my way up to 2 teaspoons or whatever the dosage is for my size tank? what type of timeframe you recommend? over a course of a month or a few weeks? i have been doing my regular water changes every 2 weeks of about 15 - 20% of the total water volume.