brown algae

[Billymetz135]

hey i just set up a 20 gallon long about three weeks ago. there is a bunch of brown algae on all the rocks. the algae has little bubbles, does any one know why this is happening and if there is any thing i can do to eliminate them?
thanks bill.

 

[fishroomlady]

not sure about the bubbles but diatoms are usually brownish in color and very commonly occur in new setups. Diatoms will usually go away on their own.

 

[Mmsetta]

Bubble tipped me off that I have dinoflagellates. Not good for the tank. I have been battling for about a week with a couple of water changes and sucking it out. If it is stringy like cyano and has bubbles on it is is likely Dino's. A lot of info on the web but a good source advised me to suck out as much as I can and two larger warerchanges back to back days. I'll let you know how it goes. Just did second waterchanfe today. Also, out my magnum micro filter on the make sure I get the loose particles.

 

[Billymetz135]

here are some crappy pictures of the bobbles taken with my iPhone. Could this be because i added my new light last week. or could this be the first algae bloom?
thanks bill.

 

[fishroomlady]

it looks like diatoms to me for most of it. It does not look like dinos from pictures I've seen of it. It also looks like some excess bacterial growth on the rock. I would use a turkey baster and spray off your sand and rocks....are you having excess bubbles in the tank perhaps from a skimmer?

 

[Mmsetta]

Can't tell from those. But if snails are dying it is likely not just diatoms. Not sure if other algae has the bubbles either. Maybe someone else can answer that.

 

[Billymetz135]

So i think it turned out to be the start of a hair algae bloom. my tank is only about three weeks old, so I'm hopping its just part of the cycle. i don't have any snails yet just one blue ledge hermit crab who was a hitchhiker. I'm going to get some snails and more hermit crabs monday and try and scrub it off my tank walls and do a big water change to see if i cant get this stuff under control. here is what the brown looking algae looked like just two days later. its growing like crazy.
thanks for all your guys input though.

 

[KoleTang]

Those are diatoms. New tanks go through this phase when they are becoming established. Diatoms feed on silicates (from the new rock and sand), once they run out of food they will disappear.

 

[Billymetz135]

so just wait it out and don't add any thing? how long do they normally last?

 

[gemini9]

Looks like diatoms to me as well. I had them too. For the algae, it's best to just leave the lights off for awhile since you don't really have anything in the tank yet. Light will make the algae grow.

 

[KoleTang]

The diatom bloom on my last setup took about a week to die down. It really depends on the amount of silicates they have present.

 

[Billymetz135]

Thanks for all your help guys. Ill leave my lights out for a few days and see what happens.
thanks bill.

 

[gemini9]

When you first start up a tank you'll see weird things like that. The brown/rust colored growths are diatoms and they go away after a week or so. If you keep your lights on 24/7, you will experience algae blooms. Same with having your tank in direct sunlight.