This is becoming absolutely disgusting

[S.SReefer]

Heeeey!

Soo, diatoms have reached.... and I still have not got a bloody Wavemaker!!! I ordered an AI, but it was broken in transit, so now I have to wait another 2 WEEKS!

Look at the state of it! It's GROSS.
The green is poking through.

And I have cope pods. Just saw some little white bugs around my tank.

Do you like the stringy bloom? debating turning off my lights for a few weeks it's YUK

 

[ScottJ]

Doesn't look too bad, just normal start up ugly. How old is it? It will take a while, months, for the good microorganisms to out compete the bad. Just stay the course, practice good husbandry, like regular water changes, and it will settle down and look good!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Heeeey!

Soo, diatoms have reached.... and I still have not got a bloody Wavemaker!!! I ordered an AI, but it was broken in transit, so now I have to wait another 2 WEEKS!

Look at the state of it! It's GROSS.
The green is poking through.

And I have cope pods. Just saw some little white bugs around my tank.

Do you like the stringy bloom? debating turning off my lights for a few weeks it's YUK

I wouldn't be worried about that; it looks like regular tank uglies. I agree; start doing water changes and check parameters regularly just to be on top of your tank!

 

[Asm481]

I don't see anything that requires lights in your tank. Shut them lights off, the longer the better. Feed your shrimp and watch your parameters.

 

[Reefer Brent]

It's gonna get so much worse lol. Add more copepods. Change/Clean your mechanical filtration as often as possible. I change my floss daily in my AIO. I also do daily water changes with a 60oz pitcher from Walmart and a premixed 5 gallon gatorade style jug with a powerhead and heater in it. Pitcher out then pitcher of fresh back in.

 

[Solo McReefer]

It'll be fine

It's just the beginning

 

[TinnysReef]

Just means there is life in the tank. Throw a few hermits in and some sand sifting clean up crew and they'll get to work

 

[kevgib67]

Diatoms are self limiting as they feed on silicates, when the silicates are gone so are the diatoms even if you do nothing. The pods will speed up the process though.

 

[mlivvy]

Wait til you gotta clean that skimmer.

 

[S.SReefer]

Wait til you gotta clean that skimmer.

Skimmercis on! Trust me its LOVLEY

 

[SilverRanger]

Toss in a bag of chemi pure elite, always kept my tanks free of algae and slimy bacteria. Starves the junk

 

[parclife]

It’s not that bad and will go as fast as it came. Copepods, a great clean up crew and water changes. Will be fine in no time, just means it’s doing what it should be doing.

 

[SeeSnek]

You can avoid a lot of the uglies by adding live rock to your tank.

 

[lbacha]

as others have stated your tank looks perfectly normal. If you are going fish only and do t want the rock to be live (do you want it to be nice and white all the time) then there are some tricks to keep it that way. If you are going for a reef tank then the green algae is a good sign and your initial cycle is over. Now you need the live rock to encrust with benificial bacterial and algae (you will always have algae in a reef tank so you use a CUC to keep it in check) eventually you will start to see coralline algae form which will compete with the greens and brown algae’s. One think to check is your nutrient levels (if you don’t have tests I would consider investing in a Nitrate and Phosphate test kit as they will tell you a lot about your tank) Alk and Salinity should be you first test kits but then the two I mentioned.

As others have stated your tank looks perfectly normal for its age. Don’t do anything drastic or you can cause issues.

 

[Solo McReefer]

You can avoid a lot of the uglies by adding live rock to your tank.

Or makes them easier to get under control

 

[Solo McReefer]

you are going for a reef tank then the green algae is a good sign

Totally agree

 

[exnisstech]

If that look bothers you this is probably not going to be a fun journey for you. Just roll with it and don't try to make things happen. Let it progress naturally you'll be much better off in the end. JMO

EDIT : If you have access to some real live rock or rubble it can be huge boost.

 

[Crabby48]

Watch doing water changes as you want no3 and po4 in the tank so you don’t get Dino’s. I recommend testing first.
Also stir up the sand or gravel vac sand lightly. Maybe more CUC to keep up but as of now tank looks good.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Heeeey!

Soo, diatoms have reached.... and I still have not got a bloody Wavemaker!!! I ordered an AI, but it was broken in transit, so now I have to wait another 2 WEEKS!

Look at the state of it! It's GROSS.
The green is poking through.

And I have cope pods. Just saw some little white bugs around my tank.

Do you like the stringy bloom? debating turning off my lights for a few weeks it's YUK

As stressed by others its a norm with new tank development and Id be shocked if you experienced no diatoms. Diatoms typically appear in a tank that just completed its cycle but can also appear in an established tank and look ugly but in most cases are harmless and feed mainly off of silicates and even dissolved organics, phosphate and nitrates. Tap water can contain silicates and is a good way to start a diatom bloom if you use tap to mix your salt or to replace water that evaporated. The best way to prevent this is to use filtered RODI water through an RODI unit, but you can still get diatoms when using RODI unit if the cartridge that removes silicates is expired.
Diatoms are harmless and can be beaten once their food source is gone which is typically a couple of weeks so just be patient and it will pass.
If the appearance is unacceptable to you, reduce white light intensity, do regular water change and add snails.
Some cleaner crew to help control it are : Cerith snails, Nerite snails and Trochus snails and also Astraea snails are effective at removing diatoms.

 

[lil sumpin]

You're right on track and will likely cycle through a couple more uglies. Everyone's given great advice but the key thing I wanna reiterate is: don't act drastically! There will be lots of things that go wrong, it's one crazy roller coaster ride but what you wanna do is read, research and do the necessary prep that it takes to understand and handle the various stages of your tank's life cycle.