New Saltwater

Question
our store told us live sand and live rock for two weeks, we have had the water tested twice, still too much amonia.  About 1.5 weeks into that, we started getting a brown film on everything, even the sand, now they are saying algae, gave us some TLC, but what else can we do to get rid of it so we can proceed with live coral and fish?  We only have one light above it(7 hours per day), a little florescent light, we are in an office, but no outside light reaches the tank, any suggestions?

Answer

Linda,

What are your NH3 readings?
Your tank is still in the cycle phase:  This means High NH3 which gets converted in Nitite which then gets turned into nitrate. Cycling takes around 7-9 weeks. You can only add fish when NH3 is 0 nitrite is 0 and nitrate is less than 10 ppm.  also ph needs to be 8.0-8.2

The brown film on your tank are called diatoms they are a very basic type of algae.  They establish themselves in new tanks. Even with liitle or no light these guys will grow. Ask your local pet shop for some snails which will eat the algae. Or some hermit crabs they are very hardy and can with stand high ammonia and nitrite levels.

One quick note your corals will perish with that light source.  You will need very strong lighting. Also it
1. depends on how big your tank is
2. what types of coral (try soft corals)
3. corals need good water movement as well so keep that in mind.
4.  You can also rub off the diatoms from your tank with a algae brush or buy a Mag-float they work great.
5. the basic rule is 4-6 watts of lighting per gallon I like T-5 or VHO very high output bulbs they are great.

good luck
Todd