brown algae bloom?

[chainsaw5vent]

how long do i have to wait for the brown algae cycle to clear up? its been occuring for at least two weeks. in my last water test, ph @8.4, ammonia @.25, nitrites and nitrates were down to 0.0. in another post, it was noted that running a skimmer could increase the brown's cycle time. is that true? thanks

 

[chevron tang]

The brown algae should considerably calm down once your tank has finished its cycle. If you are testing ammonia and no trites or trates then your tank is not finished. Ammonia breaks down to trites which is then broken down to trates which is the end process. Once all 3 are at 0ppm then your tank should be cycled. By then the brown algae should calm down and you will have green algae instead but it does not produce so much so fast as the brown algae does. Be patient. Do you have any fish in the tank? If so how often do you feed them?

 

[kris walker]

Just to add, the whole bloom can last anywhere from 3-5 weeks.
sam

 

[chainsaw5vent]

in the tank are 3 damsels, they are fed once a day, occasionally twice a day. the nitrates/nitrite #'s all have risen and dropped. the high #'s were nitrate/80, nitrite/2.0, ammonia/0-0-.25, ph stable @ 8.4. these #'s were taken on 20 dec. '01. the others were from 3 jan. '02. it just looks UGLY! the tank is all clouded up! i had a tank back in the late '80's and i don't recall this part of the cycle (or maybe not this bad!)

 

[kris walker]

The intensity might partially depend on the silica content of the substrate and newly madeup water. Diatoms are tiny little buggers with shells that are composed of silica, not CaCO3. I don't claim to understand how it works though, as it is one of the many interesting mysteries to me.
sam