Brown sand bed

[raultsu]

Can someone please tell me what this stuff on my sand bed is. I did 3 days of darkness and it disappeared but as soon as I turned the lights back on it came back within a day. I do 10% water change weekly run gfo and carbon and nitrates and phosphates are near 0.

 

[Dr.Reefgood]

First i would ask how long has the tank been running? Second question would be what kind of water are you using? RO/DI? And do you know where you got your sand? Brown algae are diatoms. Which is not really algae but tiny single cell organisms. Brown algae is normal in the cycling or beginning of the tank. It will usually cycle out on its own. The brown algae usually means high silicates in the tank. Normally from tap water or poor sand. Dont overfeed and make sure you have a good flow through-out the tank. These are the things i was told when i first set up and had this problem.

 

[raultsu]

Tank has been up for 11 months. I use ro/di water. And I'm using Caribbean Oolite sand.

 

[fishroomlady]

it almost looks like cyano bacteria to me. I'm thinking 11 months is a pretty long period to be having pronounced diatoms

 

[raultsu]

Does it matter if it's only on the sand? There is nothing on my rocks

 

[Dr.Reefgood]

I found this Saltwater Algae Control: Brown Algae | Home Aquaria

 

[Dr.Reefgood]

Its just basic stuff. Make sure your test kits are good and do a check list of all the things mentioned on that page. I think there are some links as well.

 

[Dr.Reefgood]

it almost looks like cyano bacteria to me. I'm thinking 11 months is a pretty long period to be having pronounced diatoms

I agree. Maybe need more flow or test kits may be bad. I used chemi-clean when i had cyano. Some people will swear to never use chemicals in the tank. I used chemi-clean and it did wonders. Keep the water clean and flowing and you shouldnt get it again

 

[Fat Panda]

how ofter are you feeding? it too me looks like cyano bacteria. test water and, and cut back on your feeding. it should help alot.

 

[raultsu]

I was feeding 3 times a week. I'm currently doing 2 times a week

 

[racin2438]

More water flow to the sand bed area will also help..

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Does it matter if it's only on the sand? There is nothing on my rocks

No, but it might get worse.

Many people really dislike cyano, primarily for aesthetic reasons.

Having some cyano growing in patches is generally not any sort of "problem" for other parts of the tank, unless it begins to overgrow something you care about, but usually the concern is that it is just unattractive.

 

[Waters]

I actually am running into the same exact issue....tank has been up for about 13 months. I have had absolutely 0 algae growth up until now. I also run both GFO and ChemPure Elite. Both Phosphates and Nitrates test 0. Nothing has changed other than adding a coral here and there. I have just been siphoning up the small patches on the gravel/sand bed daily. I have also increased the skimmer production to produce more of a wet skim as well as cutting down on feedings of both the fish and coral. So far I don't notice any decrease (small patches show up each day...also only on sand bed) but I have only been doing these changes for about a week. I definitely have plenty of flow......some of the patches are showing up directly in the line of fire of a powerhead.

 

[GenSkiR6]

I HATE cyano. Hate hate hate it!