algea control !!! help please

[richie1742]

i cant figure out why theres so much algea on my sand. its brown and hairry kinda like sheets of carpet. it grows so fast too. what can i get to clean it up? blenny?

 

[ithorian_r]

what your having is a brown algae(diatom) bloom. is the tank newly set up? normally diatom blooms take care of themselves. my new tank had the same problem but it soon normalized...

 

[richie1742]

i completed cycle a month ago, i guess its fairly new set-up. but its deffianly not taking care of its self, i did a water change earlyer today and cleaned it all up, i came back 5 hours later and my sand was cover with it!!!!!! are there any inverts that can take care of it?

 

[ithorian_r]

believe me, it will take care of itself. it just doesnt happen overnight! i just set up another tank in late july, and had the diatom bloom about a month ago, since then it has drastically reduced. i have narcissus snails and cerith snails and they keep the sandbed stirred up fairly well, the cerith snails will esp eat diatoms. do a search on here about diatoms or look in the archives and youll see that this is a regular occurence for new tanks, do not worry!

 

[jer4916]

stop doing water changes, every time you do your re-feeding your system. Let the it burn itself up. Also make sure you use RO water, if your using tap water that is whats most likely causing it.
also if you can start up a refigum with plant life that will also help because they will compete for the same food source and the good plants will over eat the " red carpet " you have...
~chris
Good luck

 

[richie1742]

alright ill try some of thoes sand shifting inverts