Algae Growing on Sand

[pakora]

Hi,
I have this weird brown stuff growing on the bottom of my tank. Its here and there in patches. Its some kind of algae obviously but how do I get rid of it. Its even growing on my anemone crab. I have attached some pictures. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Tank Parameters
10 gallon tank
6 Green Chromis
Handful of blue legged hermits & astrea snails
1 Goby
1 Starfish
1 Anemone Crab
1 Peppermint Shrimp
3 Emerald Crabs
DATE: 9/08/2007
PH: 8.2
AMMONIA: 0
NITRITE: 0
NITRATE: 10
HYDROMETER 1.021 (I know Im going to bring this up)
CALCIUM(ppm): 280 (14 drops)
KH(ppm): 240 (14 drops) [A few water changes should help lower this]

 

[swfishfan]

Overstocked... I am not sure if these brown spots are algea, but i do know that for a 10 Gallon tank you have way to much marine life in it. 6 chromis os way too many

 

[azul1994]

Yeah take, out the chromis and put in 1 or 2 small fish like a percula clownfish.

 

[earlybird]

I agree on the overrstocked but that looks like diatom algae to me. Possibly chaeto.
What are your phosphates?

 

[trigger11]

I cant tell if the algae is just diatoms or the beginning of something more sinister like cyano. It is hard to tell from the pictures.
How long have you had the tank up and running? If under 1 month then I would say you have diatom algae which will go away on its own in a couple of weeks.
If you have been up and running for a more than a couple of months then my guess is you will have a major algae outbreak.
6 Green Chromis and the goby is quite a bit of livestock for a 10G for the bioload. Remember, the more fish you have the more ammonia is going to be created which will eventually get converted to nitrates. Algae thrives on higher nitrates.
I would also consider taking the starfish back to the LFS. I know they are really cool but they really do need to have a big tank as they will surely starve in a 10G.

 

[pakora]

I have had the tank up and running for 8 months now. I do know it is overstocked. My nitrates always stay between 10 and 20 so I dont know how the fish are affecting the algae from coming?
I dont have a means to measure phosphate. I have some cyano on the side of the wall but I scraped it off and it has returned. I am going to get that chemical that removes cyano. Could this also be cyano? Its brown and the cyano is red with bubbles so I thought it to be something else.
As for the starfish I make sure to drop plenty of sinking pellets for it to consume, as well as flakes that hit the floor. As well as food for the filter feeders to consume.
My tank although it is a 10g appears to be pretty stable apart from the algae.. Im a noob so if you disagree then please rain your wisdom upon me as it will make me better at this hobby. Thank you for all of the replies as always!

 

[pakora]

Oh yeah, all of this algae started to appear after I added calcium and chemicals to adjust KH. Before that I NEVER had any bit of algae in my tank.

 

[reelbigjawn]

For a 10g tank that is too many chromis. I only have 2 in my 75g.(used to be 3)

 

[pakora]

I understand I have too many chromis...
I'll do what needs to be done....
The reason I asked for help was not on the chromis...
Please help me on the algae!
Thank you

 

[b bauer]

buy letting the food sink for the starfish that is one problem

 

[stanlalee]

Originally Posted by pakora
I understand I have too many chromis...
I'll do what needs to be done....
The reason I asked for help was not on the chromis...
Please help me on the algae!
Thank you
you have algae because of your fish there is no way around saying it. they have to feed and produce waste which cant be adequately diluted in a 10g hence its feeding the algae. you can a) get rid of some fish b) increase your waste removal regime via more frequent water changes and/or better skimming if you have one or c) do both. the only chemicals used to increase alk are kalk, sodium bicarbonate and carbonates. they do not feed nuisance algae nor does calcium chloride. perhaps the nuisance algae just flourishes better in the new and improved water parameters or the results of too many chromis have just caught up with the tank. I do 50% gallon water changes every two weeks in my 6 gallon and all it has is on false perc about .50" , a tiny cleaner shrimp and 4 snails. Your regime would have to be alot more aggressive than mine if you want to keep the fish without algae problems. all you have to do is remove the algae manually and do a large water change and time how long it takes to come back. then after it comes back remove it manually again without the water change and again time how long it takes to come back. If it come back significantly quicker you arent removing waste adequately enough or producing too much to begin with. An established stable tank not overstocked or with proper waste removal will show little change in the production time of nuisance algae. anytime you have more than you like or it comes back too fast for your liking you simply have to remove waste more quickly. nuisance algae is always going to be there, its just a matter of how much is tolerable to the tank owner.

 

[pakora]

Originally Posted by Stanlalee
you have algae because of your fish there is no way around saying it. they have to feed and produce waste which cant be adequately diluted in a 10g hence its feeding the algae. you can a) get rid of some fish b) increase your waste removal regime via more frequent water changes and/or better skimming if you have one or c) do both. the only chemicals used to increase alk are kalk, sodium bicarbonate and carbonates. they do not feed nuisance algae nor does calcium chloride. perhaps the nuisance algae just flourishes better in the new and improved water parameters or the results of too many chromis have just caught up with the tank. I do 50% gallon water changes every two weeks in my 6 gallon and all it has is on false perc about .50" , a tiny cleaner shrimp and 4 snails. Your regime would have to be alot more aggressive than mine if you want to keep the fish without algae problems. all you have to do is remove the algae manually and do a large water change and time how long it takes to come back. then after it comes back remove it manually again without the water change and again time how long it takes to come back. If it come back significantly quicker you arent removing waste adequately enough or producing too much to begin with. An established stable tank not overstocked or with proper waste removal will show little change in the production time of nuisance algae. anytime you have more than you like or it comes back too fast for your liking you simply have to remove waste more quickly. nuisance algae is always going to be there, its just a matter of how much is tolerable to the tank owner.
Thank you so much for your time in helping me. Now this is something that makes sense to me. I have another 10g Im setting up so I will distribute half of the chromis into that tank as soon as it is cycled. I will see what happens to the tank. I know that 3 chromis per 10g tank is still overstocked but we can all agree it will be better than what I currently have.