New to this hobby and need your help please

[AF330i]

I have just started a saltwater tank about 4 weeks ago. It is a 65 gallon tank set up with a pre-filter which then goes into the wet/dry dripping set up which then goes into a small tank that has the heater and a pump then back up to the back of the tank and puts the water in. (sorry iuf this is not the right terminolgy but I am very new to this)

I started the tank with about 4 damsel's, a porcupine puffer and a percula clownfish and lost some damsels in the process

3 1/2 weeks went by and the nitrate level was going down a lot and the nitrite level was going up. So I did a 10 gallon water change and it worked out well.
The next day I added 1 yellow tang, 1 lion fish, 1 more percula clown, 1 more damsel plus some small fish thast is 1/2 yellow/1/2 purple.

Here is my problems:
1) Brown algae started at week 2 and is now getting even darker. I put phosBan in a media bag and put it in the wet/dry filter right above where it drips into the little plastic balls and it seems to be doing nothing to get rid of the brown algae. How do I get rid of this ugly brown algae which also has spots of pink to it

2) The nitrite level is very high, ph went down to 7.8 and my nitrate level is getting higher as well. A few people told me to leave the tank alone and let it finish the cycle. It's been 5 days since this happened and I got the ph level up by adding PH 8.3 Seachem Marine buffer and it seems to have worked.
Here are my levels today
PH 8.0 to 8.2
Ammonia .50 ppm
Nitrate 40 ppm
nitrite 5.0

I need help ... I thought the nitrite level goes down as the nitrate goes up ... please offer advice, I really need it ... thanks

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Hi and welcome to TFF
can't help you with marine stuff as i've never had a marine tank but you'll probably get loads more replys in you post this in the salt water section of the site

 

[AF330i]

Anyone ?

 

[SirMinion]

I'm going to move this to the marine section, someone there should be able to help you...

 

[chkltcow]

The only help I can give you is to take all those fish back. The puffer, the lion, and the tang are probably all too big for that tank by themselves. Plus, in the presence of the lionfish and puffer, we shall simply refer to the clownfish, royal gramma (the purple/yellow fish), and the damsels as "lunch".

Your tank is 100% unsuitable man. I hate to break it to you... but you're looking at a disaster, and an expensive one at that.

 

[Navarre]

Ok first big problem is that you have fish that create HUGE amounts of biowaste. puffers and lionfish are making your NItrite rocket so hig as these fish give off enourmous amounts of waste each time they breath.

Ckltcow is right too. the fish you have are compltely unsuitable for a tank of this size. Tangs need 100 gallons the lionfish could livce in that tank but as a single fish only and it would need a good skimmer. The puffer is going to outgrow that tank completely im afraid. The clowns and damsels are fine.

How much liverock do you have? Liverock is by far the best filter money can buy and with good liverock that tank doesnt even need to cycle!

With a tank of your size you are looking are smaller fish, dwarf angels, perhaps one of the smaller triggers, anthias, chromis, gobies, wrasses etc. Its a good starter tank but not large enough for the fish you have chosen

 

[AF330i]

Wow ... thanks for the great responses ... I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the help !!!

My lion fish, porcupine puffer and tang are all on the small side. Would this make a difference considering my size tank ?

I have a friend that has a tank about 125 to 150 gallons and their lion fish & tangs (they have 3) are at least double the size of mine.

I don't know how fast these fish grow but if this 65 gallon tank could last me 6 months to a year I would definitely consider going with a 125 to 150 gallon tank.

thanks !!