Brown Algae

[Martyt1]

Please help.. I am fairly new to the saltwater world. I have had freshwater since I was 12 and finally decided to make the leap to salt. I have a 55gal display and approximately an 18 gal refugium. I have a full 40lb bag of Fiji pink sand in the refuge and about a 120 lb of the same in the refuge. I just purchased a USED 6 bulb t5 fixture and a new reef octopus 110 skimmer. The water looks great and all parameters appear fine. BUT I have this brown slimed snotlike carpet algae that even after I stir it up and let the skimmer pull it out this stuff reappears the next day in full force.. There is plenty of circulation and I am at my wits end. The tank is about 2 months old and I have 4 small fish and a starfish and anenome . Any ideas?

 

[mike007]

Looks like diatom algae which will go away. Be carefull and don't overfeed your fish or corals. Most algae problems are caused by excess nutrients. Also if your bulbs are old say 12 months you need to change them out.

 

[ChristopherKriens]

This is a natural thing for a new tank; algae have their own little cycle they go through. Usually it will go away on it's own- you can speed this up by reducing phosphates and silicates.

 

[Martyt1]

Call me a moron how do I reduce phosphates and silicates,, this is truly a normal thing? I've had it for 2 weeks, is this normal as well? Thank you for the awesome input!

 

[Rikerbear]

It is indeed normal. You can reduce the phosphates by feeding less, making sure to use RO/DI water for your water changes and top offs. You can also shorten your light cycle till it passes also.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Diatoms will go away by themselves over a few weeks time frame, not to worry. Overfeeding, and use of Tap Water will keep the problem around a bit longer.
Using GFO, Chemipure Elite, Purigen to name a few that will remove phosphates from your water.

 

[Martyt1]

Most excellent!, well fortunately I've never let ANY THING except for RO-DI water hit this system. I'm going to start reducing the light time and see how that goes,, thanks again!

 

[Rikerbear]

You may not need to Martyt1. What is your light cycle now? The diatom bloom will pass on it's own, and it's not a bad thing at the early stage in your tank's aging process. Your clean up crew will eat up some of it too....

 

[Martyt1]

I've been running all 6 bulbs for 10 hours, I'm thinking of knocking about 3 hours off of that maybe?

 

[Reefing Madness]

10 is not a bad number. But for a new tank, you could knock off a few hours with no harm.

 

[Rikerbear]

10 is not a bad number. But for a new tank, you could knock off a few hours with no harm.

+1 Agreed

 

[NanaReefer]

Great read about Diatoms. Hope it helps
http://forums.saltwaterfish.com/a/diatom-algae


Sent from my iPhone 4s using Tapatalk

 

[ccajigas07]

i am going through the same thing i was told it would go away on its own

 

[Martyt1]

I think it may finally be starting to diminish but it isn't something that's just disappearing overnight for sure, saltwater I am quickly finding is NOTHING like fresh. I couldn't imagine just jumping in never having kept an aquarium at all.. It would be death for my tank for sure.

 

[ccajigas07]

yes i had been keeping freshwater tanks for about 4 years and then took the plunge saltwater is definitely a whole different kind of animal and not to mention tons of times more expensive but so far it has been fun

 

[Xingu]

I think it may finally be starting to diminish but it isn't something that's just disappearing overnight for sure, saltwater I am quickly finding is NOTHING like fresh. I couldn't imagine just jumping in never having kept an aquarium at all.. It would be death for my tank for sure.

My first tank, when I was about 14 (this would be late 70's early 80's), was saltwater. I killed a lot of animals before I started reading up on things. You already have a good jump on things, you joined Reef2Reef. Your tank will be awesome in no time.