90 gallon reef tank

dwaine welker

dwaine welker

New Member
I have a 90 gallon bow front tank, it went through its bloom cycle and did a 20 gallon water change and but I still have brown alge in the tank. This is my first time with saltwater, I have a little coralline alge in one small area near where the water pumps back in the tank from the sump. Should the brown alge go away on its own?
 
mr. limpid

mr. limpid

Active Member
Post tank prams. How long has it been running? List creatures in tank. What type of filtration are you using? What kind of lighting are you using? Is it new? How long do you run your lights?
 
dwaine welker

dwaine welker

New Member
Dead rock, used tank not new, sump filter, 02 and 02-3 are 0 been running for 30 days, did a 25 gallon water change on Saturday , still have brown allege still and a little green,and a little purple spot!
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flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,
Lots of people don't like them because they do kill snails, not just for their shells, but for morbid fun I think, anyway...hermit crabs love to eat brown algae. If you don't mind having to replenish your snails once a year, that is one solution.
Hope that helps!
 
tableforglasses

tableforglasses

Member
Definitely not too long on lights but you can keep them shut off to help control the algae till it goes away and it can take longer than 30 days to cycle tank and can include significant algae growth. I agree with Mr. Limpid could be related to rock. The purple spot looks like coralline algae which is good. Green spots look like algae. Give it a little more time to cycle and keep a daily check on nitrate and nitrite levels to see if tank has come through cycle.
 
dwaine welker

dwaine welker

New Member
If my nitrite and nitrate levels are 0 , what would cause the brown algae? Would the vodka method be ok to try? And what would the dosage on a 90 gallon ?
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
dont even try vodka if you are new its a tough routine.if the tank has just cycled and you dont have any photo corals leave the lights off for a week or 2 . on a newer tank the tank needs to stabilize and adding light just promotes algae of all sorts.every new tank gets algae no matter what we do .time and nature fixes it
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by dwaine welker http:///t/394744/90-gallon-reef-tank#post_3513786
If my nitrite and nitrate levels are 0 , what would cause the brown algae? Would the vodka method be ok to try? And what would the dosage on a 90 gallon ?
I 100% agree with Deejeff, unless you have a really great skimmer you will crash the tank for sure, and it sucks all the oxygen out of the tank if you don't know what you are doing.
There is a safe way to dose...get an aquaripure filter, it feeds on vodka just like the tank would if you dose it, however all the bacteria bloom stays in the filter. I have one on each of my tanks. It never needs cleaning, I just dose the vodka each Sunday and it's good to go. I have had one on my 90g tank for over a year, and I liked it so much I got a second one for my 56g. best piece of equipment I ever purchased, it actually does what the ad says it will.
Keep in mind, you have a new tank...those weird algae blooms is just part of the natural cycle of things as it matures. A very wise lady once said to me..."if you see something in your tank that you don't like, wait... a saltwater tank is forever changing." So do regular water changes, and keep up on the water tests so you know everything is as it should be...it will all work itself out.
 
dwaine welker

dwaine welker

New Member
Ok, thanks for all the advice, I will do another water change in three weeks. On a 90 how much water would you change? I did 25 last time
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by dwaine welker http:///t/394744/90-gallon-reef-tank#post_3513855
Ok, thanks for all the advice, I will do another water change in three weeks. On a 90 how much water would you change? I did 25 last time
Rule of thumb...3% on a 90g like ours, that comes to 30g. once a month. The more often you do water changes the less water you need. When I did a weekly WC I did 15g...then I went to a daily WC and did about 3g. (I had nitrate issues, which as it turned out... I actually had API test kit issues) That all led to a new sump system and the Aquaripure filter. I now use SeaChem test kits.
 
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