HELP!!! Live rock has lots of brown alge growing on it

[Chloes Granny]

Hi everyone,

I need some asistance please. My sysem is about a month old and I have 130lbs if live rock and 70lbs of sand in my system. There is brown what looks like alge gowing on all the live rock.

Can you guys tell me what to do about it? What might be causing it? What tests should I run? The ph is 8.4. The nitrates are 0.

Any suggestions would very helpful. If you know if other links on RF to go to for this info that would help also.

Thanks so much.

Kim

 

[loohunter]

that is typical for a young tank you can siphon most of it out when you do your water change. it will also help if you use ro di water

 

[Vdituri]

Look for info regarding "diatoms".
It appears as a brown film on your rocks, sand and glass.
As stated by loohunter it is a regular stage in a new tank.

If you are not already doing so, using reverse osmosis and deionized water filters help alot with this. So do snails.

 

[loohunter]

victor i love your avatar

 

[Chloes Granny]

What are Diatoms??

Look for info regarding "diatoms".
It appears as a brown film on your rocks, sand and glass.
As stated by loohunter it is a regular stage in a new tank.

If you are not already doing so, using reverse osmosis and deionized water filters help alot with this. So do snails.

I don't mean to sound so stupid but I've never heard of diatoms and where do I get them?

Can anyone help with that question??

thanks,

Kim

 

[g0rFz]

get some snails and maybe a lawnmower blenny, perhaps cut down on the lighting a little bit if you are using MH...its been up a month is there any animals in there yet?

 

[Chloes Granny]

Brown Alge

get some snails and maybe a lawnmower blenny, perhaps cut down on the lighting a little bit if you are using MH...its been up a month is there any animals in there yet?

I have 2 damsels & 2 clown fish & 2 gobies

I just went and picked up a lawnmower & some snails tonight. Hopefully it will help. Is this normal? Will it go away on its own?

Thank you for the info.

Kim

 

[g0rFz]

well i would have waited a little longer before adding fish...i waited like 2 months on mine, but as long as things are stable and your fish are alive i guess its fine!

anyways you should see the lawnmower start picking at rocks eating the algae...all tanks will get this brown algae, just clean it off and let the snails and blenny do their thing. over the next few months i think it will slowly disappear. just clean it off if it gets too bad but you will be fine.

how many snails and what kind did you get? i got 10 turbo snails in a 75 gal and not any algae is in there, along with my lawnmower.

 

[returnofsid]

I also would have waited to add fish...but they're in there now. What you're seeing is typical of a diatom algae bloom. It's part of the cycling process and we all experience it.

 

[Chloes Granny]

Brown yuck on my rock!!

Thank you guys for the info. I didn't know I shouldn't put starter fish in. I thought by waiting a month and having all my chem levels good I could go ahead and add a few to help the system along. I still have my other fish in a 55g and have been waiting to put them it.

The blenny started eating the algee right away. He is so cool. I,m not sure of the name of the snails but I think I am going to take them back because they haven't moved at all. Shouldn't they at least moved some what over night? I don't think they were in the shells.

Thanks,

Kim

 

[rjarnold]

What kind of snails? They're not upside-down are they? Were they acclimated very slowly (drip acclimation being preferred)?

 

[tike]

You need to get either Astrea snails or mexican turbos to clean up the algae. Wouldn't hurt to get about a dozen blue leg hermits either.

 

[rjarnold]

Actually I've found ceriths to do the best job cleaning brown algae (vs. astrea). Ceriths are very underrated imo and are a good overall snail

 

[DonW]

Actually I've found ceriths to do the best job cleaning brown algae (vs. astrea). Ceriths are very underrated imo and are a good overall snail

They are easily starved in a clean tank so you have to be careful how many you buy. Great for that inital diatom bloom otherwise they need some detritus.

Don

 

[tike]

I have never used ceriths before. Just to hard for me to find locally.

 

[rjarnold]

They are easily starved in a clean tank so you have to be careful how many you buy. Great for that inital diatom bloom otherwise they need some detritus.

Don

Good point Don, I'll have to watch that.. I don't recall ever having a problem with them, but I don't count my snails all that often either

 

[Sascha D]

I always use mexican turbos. You dont need as many of them to do the job and your hermits won't kill them You should know that they will dislodge frags and try to force their way between rocks hehe.

Where did you get your sand? Lots of people have excessive algae blooms with the cheap HD sand.

 

[Chloes Granny]

Thank you everyone for the info.

Just when I thought it was getting worse. I woke up this morning and looked at the tank and the astrids snails must be doing their job because some of my surfaces are white again. I also have 10 hermit crabs also and they have been working to. I bought at least 20 snails and I have a lot of them siting in the front of the tank and have ye to move, is that normal?

Thanks,

Kim

 

[returnofsid]

Make sure you have adequate flow as well. This will help cut down on algae. Dead spots that don't get a lot of flow will accumulate detritus (waste) which will feed the algae. You'll notice areas with more algae than others. Especially Cyanobacteria, which isn't a true algae but is called Red Slime Algae. It can also be blue. If you notice this appearing, focus more flow into those areas.

Sounds like things are proceeding smoothly and in the typical new tank order. So where are the pics!!??? Oh and welcome to RF!!!

 

[Chloes Granny]

Thank you so much for more info

Thank you for the info on cyanobacteria and the welcome. The tank is doing great if what is happening now is to be believed. Which I do. As far as pictures go, I thought you guys only wanted pictures when it looks cool. Am I wrong?

Make sure you have adequate flow as well. This will help cut down on algae. Dead spots that don't get a lot of flow will accumulate detritus (waste) which will feed the algae. You'll notice areas with more algae than others. Especially Cyanobacteria, which isn't a true algae but is called Red Slime Algae. It can also be blue. If you notice this appearing, focus more flow into those areas.

Sounds like things are proceeding smoothly and in the typical new tank order. So where are the pics!!??? Oh and welcome to RF!!!