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Old 11/19/2007, 12:44 AM
BlueSi4 BlueSi4 is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Westchester, NY
Posts: 19
I have Diatoms, i had them when i cycled my tank, and they came back after i removed the live sand and crushed coral.
Equipment is also a big part of equation. You said you're running a sump, do you have a skimmer? If not, you should try to get one, since they will clean the water and remove waste.
I've been told that sponge filters don't really work, and that they tend to be a problem.
Until a couple weeks ago, i was running a HOB filter with a sponge, carbon, and those rocks to remove ammonia, and i don't think it really worked out. So i took everything out and just added a poly filter and chemi-pure, since then it seems like the water is a bit cleaner, and parameters are a little bit better.
Also, getting better test kits might give you better and more accurate readings. I know people recommend Salifert test kits, but they tend to be expensive. I've been using Instant Ocean and so far it's been giving me really accurate readings.

As far as corals go, you're gonna need either T5 or MH lights for them to survive and thrive, there's been people that are using PCs, but T5 or MH work well. Besides that, they need to have a good PH which you have, nitrate would be good if it was 0, but your 10-20ppm might be because of the test kit.

One last thing, if you only have fish and live rock, i would not dose any products for a bit, maybe a week or two, and see if you notice any changes. I wasn't dosing anythign and my tank was doing pretty good, just had some Red Slime algae but that's about it.

Goodluck!!