Brown crap on glass and sand

[Krish]

I just have a quick question that I was wondering if someone could answer for me. I have a 90 gal aquarium set-up here in the Bahamas and running it I have a proclear 150 wet/dry system with protein skimmer, a 250 H.O.T Magnum canninster filter (using charcoal and changing it religiously every 4 weeks) 2 power heads rated at 260 gph for extra circulation, 100 lbs of crushed corals, 110 lbs of fiji rock, 5 clown fish, 2 cleaner shrimps and has been cycling for about 7 weeks now. My nitrites and ammonia are at zero and have been stable at that for about 3 weeks now. What is happening is that, regardless of my water always being crystal clear, I keep accumilating some brown crap on my glass and substrate every few days. I siphon it off atleast 3 times a week and it still keeps coming back. I'm wondering if my lighting is the problem seeing that I have only been using a 50/50 40watt bulb. I have a 260 watt coral-life retrofit power compact flourescent kit on the way which I should have tomorrow or Friday the latest. Do you think this will help?

 

[EILAT]

What Kind Of Water Did U Use?

 

[johnehr]

This might just be brown hairy algae. I had it too. Get a dozen turbo snails. They love the stuff. Sounds about the time when I had a bloom.

The better lighting will help nicer looking algae grow, like coraline as long as you have a high enough calcium level...

 

[johnehr]

Oh yea, I also heard that getting some macro algae in your fuge/sump will remove some of the nutrients from the water that that type of algae feeds on. I have some chaetomaphora which is mega easy to deal with. I bought a 10 gallon tank and set up small pump from the sump into the 10 gal and then an overflow back into the sump. Throw the macro in there and you will be set.

 

[LakeEd]

Krish,

It sounds to me, as if your system has been set-up and running for 7 weeks now... did I catch this correctly?

If that is the case, then what you are experiencing is most likely a Diatom algae bloom, which is normal for a newly cycling tank. I believe if you so a search here on Nikki's threads, you'll see a really good post of hers about her Tank Cycling that may help explain a lot of what you are currently seeing in yours.

Hope this helps some,
Ed

 

[LakeEd]

Krish,

Here is the link to Nikki's "A Saga: Nikki's 120 gallon".

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2884

Ed

 

[jks1]

Agree with Ed, most likely diatom. All new tanks go through this to one degree or another. It will pass once the system becomes completely stable. Snails will help, but it will go away on its own in time. Good luck..

 

[Curtswearing]

New guy from the Bahamas,

WELCOME TO REEF FRONTIERS from the old guy from St. Louis. LOL

I don't really have anything else to add here other than a welcome because it seems like all of the previous posters have given great advice and/or asked great questions.

 

[wrightme43]

Its a brown slime, right? Like they said its most likely diatoms. Its my understanding that diatoms use silicon to build a microscopic round skeleton. Once the silicon is used up they all die off. Unless you add more silicon with your water changes. If you are using ro/di water they will disapper on there own. If you are using tap water with silicon in it they will come back every water change. Also if you have anything leaching it into your water. This is just my understanding of how it works I have been wrong in the past and will be again. I hope that helps you. Steve

 

[Krish]

Thanks for the info guys...I'll have to give it a shot. The water i'm using is well water and believe it or not, it runs through a water softener which is set to a ph of 7. However, my ph in the tank stays within the 8.0-8.3 range and is partly do to the fact that I only do partial water changes (like 10 gal 2-3 times a week). I waited until my ph raised in the beginning before adding any fish...I gave it about 3 weeks to partially cycle. I do add calcium to the tank daily making sure not to add too much and not adding too little (i.e testing it). My friends always tease me saying that I am obsessed for spending so much time on my tank, but it pays off in the end. I never had to touch my freshwater tank when I had it...Just 25% water change a month and that's it. Hopefully, one day I can get to that point with my saltwater tank. Thanks again. I'll try some snails later after I get my lights just to see if that makes any difference. Oh, and I forgot to add...My UV sterilizer came broken when I first setup and they sent me the wrong replacement part so it looks like it will be about another 2 weeks atleast. Will that help seeing that they are helpful in destroying algae spores?

 

[NaH2O]

Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!

I would go ahead and add your clean-up crew. You will find that they help quite a bit. I prefer a variety of different snail species.

The use of well water sounds like it may contribute to algae. RO/DI water is great for reef tanks, as it is stripped of all "nasties". You can get a good phosphate test kit (one that can be used on freshwater, I believe Salifert's can) to test your well water for phosphates...I would also test for nitrates (again, one that can test freshwater, too). The water softner really doesn't strip the water like an RO/DI unit can. Understandably, there is a cost involved. If you have a TDS meter, check your well water to see what the reading is. If is isn't very high, you may be alright.

Is there a reason why you are doing 2-3, 10 gallon water changes a week, instead of a larger change once a week?

My friends always tease me saying that I am obsessed for spending so much time on my tank

LOL - have them set up a tank, and they'll see. hehehe - we're all a bunch of reef geeks

 

[snobanker]

I had the same diatom "problem" when I first cycled my tank too. Added a cleanup crew and it was gone in two days.

 

[Krish]

Yes, there is a reason for 2-3 10 gal a week water changes rather than a larger one once a week. The reason being is that I'm trying to siphon off and keep down the "browm algae" until my lights get here. I want to see if it will help once they get here. I don't really want the "brown" to accumilate too much before then...like I said before, I only have a single 40 watt bulb on a 90 gal! My power compacts are said to be here tomorrow.