New Frag tank Q

authentic · Feb 23, 2021

I have a very succesful sps dominated DT and its been years since i started a new tank,recently set up a frag tank and plumbed it into my main display.My Q.....i am getting a buildup on my glass and frag racks that appears brown,easily wipes off with a sponge but not easily blown off with a baster.no big deal im just wondering what it is? diatoms?algae? and where it comes from if my main display shows nothing similar,,,,also other than snails what else can i use to keep it under control and when or what will cause it to dissipate on its own?all prameters in check

revhtree · Feb 23, 2021

Sounds like diatoms on the new surfaces. What type of lighting?

authentic · Feb 23, 2021

xr15 blue......what to do? just realized there is no beneficial bacteria on any surface in the tank,should i add a brick from my sump? or add a starter of some type?

revhtree · Feb 23, 2021

You said it's plumbed into your main tank correct? If so it's probably just an ugly stage!

Joe Rice · Apr 21, 2021

authentic said:
I have a very succesful sps dominated DT and its been years since i started a new tank,recently set up a frag tank and plumbed it into my main display.My Q.....i am getting a buildup on my glass and frag racks that appears brown,easily wipes off with a sponge but not easily blown off with a baster.no big deal im just wondering what it is? diatoms?algae? and where it comes from if my main display shows nothing similar,,,,also other than snails what else can i use to keep it under control and when or what will cause it to dissipate on its own?all prameters in check

I have exactly the same situation. Surprising to me since I have no algae in the display tank. Adding a lot of maintenance time that I hadn't anticipated as the brown algae is very stringy and gets on the frags themselves so I feel a need to clean the racks.

Kinda' wondering if it's because I'm using eggcrate which has a lot of surface area and seems difficult for the snail to get to. I do have 4 scopas tangs in the frag tank but I'm guessing they don't eat the brown stuff.