All coral and rock turned BROWN

[bdesalvo]

Hello,
My tank in the past few days has turned the coral and rock Brown
the same color as the barrel. It is hard to tell in this picture. it was not very pronounced but today it is the BROWN color not much white. the levels in the tank are great. 55g

 

[sergeant]

How many hours a day are your lights on?
Is your tank near a window getting direct sun light?

 

[bdesalvo]

lights are on about about 6-8 hr a day.
i have a near by window which mostly keeps light in the morning for about3 hrs of the day but not really direct sun light.

 

[whitey_028]

if ya threw them in the ocean would they stay white? Its going to naturally happen... Algae is something you will not avoid with a saltwater tank and will a good clean up crew to keep the algae "under control". You will never beat the algae so join it and have it cover your live rock... Coraline algea has nice colors of purple so grow the purple algea... The whole trick of a saltwater tank is not to get rid of the algeas but control it. Microalgeas in your sump will help "soak up" some of the minerals and things that create algae in the main tank...

 

[innerdragon103]

yea, just make sure you're adding your trace elements, monitor the water temperature, and purple coraline algae will slowly, SLOWLY begin to grow...

 

[bojik]

Originally Posted by InnerDragon103
yea, just make sure you're adding your trace elements, monitor the water temperature, and purple coraline algae will slowly, SLOWLY begin to grow...
sometimes along with red

 

[1fast300z]

how is your water circulation? any powerheads?

 

[bdesalvo]

Yes I have some power head one in the tank,
I am not really sure how many would be needed in a 55g tank.
I have one in the corner. kind of blowing down.
here is another picture of what was once nice white crushed coral bedding and LR

 

[alyssia]

It sounds like a diatom bloom.

 

[bdesalvo]

do you have any information on diatom bloom?
I have not found much info on this.
is it treatable?
what would one do to prevent this?

 

[hot883]

It is diatoms. It's also called "new tank syndrom". Happens to all new tanks. I would take the fake plants out and also the dead corals. It does not help the tank at all and is not attractive especially when it gets covered in algea. Just my $.02