Oh god what have I done?: Kelsey builds a reef tank

[Mrtakeoff53]

It's normal, your rocks are going to turn all sorts of colors before they turn purple from coraline.

[emoji115]all sorts of colors is right! Brown to red to green back to brown, a little purple, back to green and then purple is how mine is going. Pure white, new rock is PERFECT for growing all sorts of algae. Expect it for a few MONTHS to come. Coraline is finally exploding in my tank @ the 6 month point. Enjoy the journey!

 

[NY_Caveman]

You will go through several nasty stages and the best thing to do is nothing. The tank will adapt. It will be covered in brown, then it will just be gone one day. Then green, or hair, then gone. Cyanobacteria, then it will disappear. Snails will help greatly and I prefer manual removal to help it along. I NEVER use chemicals for an expected nuisance. Just my opinion.

 

[Murica]

Part XI: A Quick Query, or solicitation for a reminder to not overanalyze the surface of my rocks

Hi guys! So we are officially a week into the cycle and I have a question that I'm hoping some more experienced reefers might be able to help with—also summoning the #reefsquad just in case (oh gosh, that feels formal. Sorry reefsquad).

I'm noticing several splotches of funny colored spots appearing on the rock in the tank. It's nothing glaring and honestly probably not noticeable to the non-obsessive. I'm assuming these spots are the beginnings of an algae bloom or some form of bacteria (or even possibly detritus?) on the surface of the rock.

I'm sorry for the potato pics, but hopefully you can see the areas I'm talking about. The rocks were pretty uniformly white and beige upon removal from the two bleach baths, which makes me think that these splotches are new developments. It seems a little early for any blooms, though, especially given the newness of the system. One of the areas is rusty-colored, which seems like cyano, maybe? That's been there for a few days now. The other splotches are different and I just noticed them yesterday. Am I letting my hopes get the better of me for thinking some of these spots have a purple tinge? Is it far more likely that it's leftover (and dead) coralline from the rocks' previous life in an established tank?

As I've mentioned, I haven't been able to run any water parameter tests yet, but hopefully that'll change before long. Since it's too early/too unstable for coralline algae, any ideas as to what these funny little spots might be? I'm off to trawl around the subforums for other newbie pictures to see if others have had this question answered before. Figured it couldn't hurt to ask here, though; right? Thanks everyone!

New rock commonly turns brown from diatoms, then green (early stage coralline) then purple.

 

[Tumey]

Like so many others I really enjoyed reading your posts @kelseymybelle. How are things progressing with the tank? Any new & exciting stories to entertain us with?

 

[kelseymybelle]

Like so many others I really enjoyed reading your posts @kelseymybelle. How are things progressing with the tank? Any new & exciting stories to entertain us with?

Hi Tumey! Thanks so much for reading and for the kind words! Things are progressing—or I should say they were, and now they have regressed I think.

We'll call this update "Heavy Stuff: The week where I ruined everything."

I should probably write up a full post about it, but long story short I done effed up and neglected to quarantine the first few fish in the tank. Now I have a beautiful display tank absolutely crawling with uronema marinum and dying green chromis. It's heartbreaking, and I feel like I've ruined my tank before I even really got started. We tried to get the fish out, but turns out juvenile chromis are fast little f*ckers highly adept at hiding in a hardscape. I'm genuinely not sure what to do at this point, since the disease is just free-floating in the tank.

Probably not the update you asked for, but that's where we're at.

 

[Tumey]

Hi Tumey! Thanks so much for reading and for the kind words! Things are progressing—or I should say they were, and now they have regressed I think.

We'll call this update "Heavy Stuff: The week where I ruined everything."

I should probably write up a full post about it, but long story short I done effed up and neglected to quarantine the first few fish in the tank. Now I have a beautiful display tank absolutely crawling with uronema marinum and dying green chromis. It's heartbreaking, and I feel like I've ruined my tank before I even really got started. We tried to get the fish out, but turns out juvenile chromis are fast little f*ckers highly adept at hiding in a hardscape. I'm genuinely not sure what to do at this point, since the disease is just free-floating in the tank.

Probably not the update you asked for, but that's where we're at.

I’m fortunate enough not to have had to deal with disease in my tank & you guessed it.... I’ve never QT’d. I’ve had a tank for close to 15 years now. I respect everyone’s opinions on doing so and maybe I’ve just jinxed myself by letting the cat out of the bag but it is what it is. Well I’m sorry for the set back and,” Thank You “ for filling us in with “ The Heavy Stuff “.... Let’s just call it part of the learning curve!

 

[count krunk]

At this point removing would be more stressful then letting them ride it out in the display.

Don't dose anything that isn't Coral safe. Feeding is very important. If they all die do yourself a favor and stay away from chromis.

 

[wildcard]

So...also loving the tone of your posts, and wondering what has happened since?

also I loved chromis from when my brother had them...however he always seemed to wind up with just one! I read recently that they have a strict pecking order and while they have that lovely color and obvs super cute to see fish schooling, they always kill each other until there’s only one left. So...I guess I’m saying it’s ok that they’re all dead?