diatom bloom?

[beasone]

anyone have a pic of what this is?

Not a good thing right?

How can you tell if you have good anaerobic bacteria? any pics of that? Or can't you see it?

(nosuchthingasastupidquestion) :hammerhea

 

[lcstorc]

Diatoms appear as a dusting of brown or rust on the sand ane/or rocks in the tank.
The only way to find out about the good bacteria is to put an amonia source into the tank and watch the parameters.

 

[beasone]

Thanks Lynn!! So much good stuff on here..
I have ordered a test kit and some more salt... so I have plenty of time to read before I can test what I have and do a water change.

Have learned I need to prep the water I add.. duh!! And let it sit after mixing the salt in..

I'm looking at the LR now and don't really see any real bad brown areas.. or on the sand. I am worried about my sand though.. it is not very fine and not very deep in spots.
Everything I am reading that seems like it might inhibit the good bacteria.

 

[lcstorc]

Don't worry about the sand. Some people run tanks without sand at all. The bacteria you need will live deep inside your LR.
Be sure to keep mixing the NSW while you are waiting. You also want to make sure you match the temp and ph of the existing water before changing,