brown covering everything

[clay]

So, would yall suggest that i keep the fish and just keep doing water changes or go ahead and get some live rock to restart a cycle. I'm thinking of starting all over basically with massive water change 50% er better and live rock,using r/o water.

[Regric25]

If you have enough liverock already there is no reason to put more in or replace it. The liverock that is in there is fine. If your params are good then you should be able to keep the fish but if you think it can't support a fish at this point then i recommend rehoming it. If you keep the fish don't do a huge water change just a 1 or 2 gallon change weekly would suffice. It will take time for the RODI water to completley replace the tap water thats in there but nothing good in this hobby happens fast. The diatom algae in the water is not bad for the fish its just mainly unsightly. I would say if parms are good keep the fish and start doing weekly 2 gallon water changes a week with RODI water. If parms are not good then rehome the fish and still do weekly water changes of 2 gallons. Keep the rock you have. Tap water is not BAD as in harmful but RODI is ALOT better than TAP. In time the diatom algae will go away. Just keep up water changes, flow, testing and a steady light cycle and you will be fine.

[justahobby]

Look for established rock from someone's tank in the for sale section. Then you won't worry about rock cycling/ releasing ammonia and keep your psuedochromis. I'll even give you a rock from my BC to get you started. But I will do you the favor that wasn't done to me.... warn you that I have asterina starfish LOL.

[Europhyllia]

But I will do you the favor that wasn't done to me.... warn you that I have asterina starfish LOL.

That's why I am going all dry rock this time. Never had asterinas but got plenty of unwanted macro algae on my rock.

[justahobby]

Dry rock is a great option too. But I always wonder how long it will last before a spore is introduce on an incoming coral.....

[clay]

Awsome, and thank you for the offer of the rock, but i live i Rockport and it would be quite a drive to get up there but the LFS here(Corpus Christi) is awsome and they have a ton of rubble and rock. Right now i guess i am going to try to do small water changes and reup on my testing supplies. The problem i don't think will just go away on its own so i will just have to watch and documet it alot more. Thank you all for your time and patience with me.

[Europhyllia]

Dry rock is a great option too. But I always wonder how long it will last before a spore is introduce on an incoming coral.....

Yes I'm afraid of that too. Maybe I'll just go with rock -no corals. just kidding

Good Luck Clay! It will all work out

[puretexn]

Take it slow. I started with this.....


The diatoms will die off and new critters will take over in time.


I live down the street from you, if you need a chunk of live rock, stop on by. I have a rock or two to donate.

[kkiel02]

Phosban will help to remove silicates that the diatoms use. Phosban is probably my favorite anti-algae product so I am biased towards it.

[clay]

"Take it slow. I started with this....." How did you get a picture of my tank
ya you are not far at all

I did a test last night 0 nitrites, 0 ammonia, 20ppm nitrates, and 8.2 PH
so i think the cycle is getting close to being over with. but i need water changes bad
I'm not sure what the PH is supposed to be but it seems a lil high