Algae, Algae Everywhere

The refugium went online on Sunday after replacing the broken  tank.  And, besides a small leak on one of the overflows (fixed), the system has been running fully for almost 3 days!

Over the weekend I went to AZ Pets & Pondz in Reading, PA.  For any of you local reefers, it is worth the drive for the rock alone!  And, Mike, who runs the fish room, is very knowledgeable.  (they are known for their pond supplies, but their saltwater fish/coral section is pretty cool, too)

So, I bought another 50+lbs of live rock, 35lbs of live sand (not  the bagged junk, but right from their tanks) and an Oceanic sump that I converted to a fuge.

All is now good with the system. However, because I have replaced all of the rock in the last 3-4 weeks, I am still suffering through a longer than usual cycle.  My nitrates are still around 80ppm and I have  been doing 25 gallon water changes for 4 days straight now, not to mention the additional 45 gallons of new water that was used when I brought the fuge on line.

In addition, my tank is covered with algae.  I mean completely.  On the right hand side, on the sand, there is the brown slime algae and the rest of the tank (sand, glass, rocks) has a nice green coat of algae.  Add to that , the water has a white-ish haze to it, I am now fully engulfed in algae. 

The protein skimmer is working overtime and doing great, though I am still dialing it in a little.

In addition to the skimmer, I also have a full bag of ChemiPure Elite in there, three small bags of Algone and a Phosban Reactor running with 150ml of Phosban.

The fuge has 35lbs of live sand, long with a large amount of chaeto and a piece of live rock. 

I will post more pictures as the tank clears.  As a test, I moved my conch from my BioCube to the big tank and I also moved my purple gorgonia to see how he fairs in the murky waters.  He has opened his feeders so I guess that is a good sign.

I am also excited to see a population of copepods in the tank.  My coral beauty and yellow tang are dining on them a bit, I think, because they keep picking at the rocks.  But, that will change when I start a regular feeding process.  I am holding back right now because I don't want to add excess detritus. 

Once my algae goes away (I hope another week), and my nitrates go to zero, I will begin the process of moving my other fish and coral from the 14 gallon BioCube over to the main tank.  I am really hoping that this algae dies off quickly.  It is rather annoying.

For now, though,I will leave you with this FTS (full tank shot).