algae question thank you.

[mr.p]

I'm new to saltwater fish and we just put up an aquarium 3 weeks ago and i cycled it with damsels . Lately probaly within the last week or so a lot of algae has been growing on the glass and brownish on the sand and also along the rocks. I have a yellow tang in there now and he picks at it sometimes but i know he can't eat all that up, my questions were is that normal to grow algae that quick? within about a 3 week span maybe a tiny bit more? or is that unhealthy and is something wrong? also if that's normal what would you recommend to get rid of some of the algae without harming the fish or disturbing them to much? I dont think my yellow tang can eat that much algae. thank you!

 

[rtmarecaux]

If the algae is brown, it may be called brown diatoms. It can be caused by too much lighting, but it is usually because you are using tap water instead of reverse osmosised. It will become a pain to scrub off everyday if you do not start using r/o water. I may be wrong though and you may already have r/o water in your tank. Also, what size tank, how much rock, and what kind of lighting are you using. Personally, three weeks is a little early for a yellow tang, but thats only in my opinion.
Hope that helps,
Bobby

 

[mr.p]

Yeah you may be right about it being a little early for a tang but he's doing great but i don't know what's the cuttoff date before i can feel really safe? We did use tap water and it is brown on the sand and such, could that be a hazard? is that something that could be unhealthy for my fish down the line? or is it just ugly? do you know if yellow tangs eat that? i see him picking a lot and he's always hungry it seems.

 

[rainey1324]

It's caused by phosphate in the water. I used a phosphate absorbing pad, and it cleared right up. Then start using RO water for top offs and water changes.