brown algae

[megabyte]

I noticed I have a little brown algae growing on my lsb recently. Not sure why. Water tests out fine. The only thing I can think of is my lighting. I am a few months overdure for bulb/tube changes. Can this make a difference? Any suggestions?

 

[wamp]

It can but, It sounds like more of a diatom problem than anything. Diatoms are introduced through water changes. What type of water do you use?

 

[fishfreek]

I have the same problem. I had to add some treated tap water to my tank a few weeks ago beacuse the r/o machine was not working at the grocery store. I waited to the last possable minute to add it but i really had no choice. What can be done to get rid of this stuff in established tanks????
Any ideas??

 

[steamboat1569]

I had a diatom problem for a while. I used Red Slime Remover. It did not have any bad effects on my tank, although I was nervous about using it. I only had to use it once, and in a week it was gone. Anyone had any bad experiences with this product?

 

[drummerboy]

I haven't had any bad experiences with the product, it got rid of the red slime right away, but it definitly hasn't helped my diatom problem! The only other thingis it makes the protien skimmer go crazy. It makes it spit out millions of micro bubble. But other than that, it did work well for the cynobacteria.

 

[wamp]

Diatom algea will go away by itself once you add good water to the tank. some snails will also eat it.

 

[mlm]

The diatoms feed off of silacates which tap water has a lot of. Once they have depleted the supply the diatoms will go away by themselves. When you use red slime remover you are supposed to turn your protien skimmer off.

 

[megabyte]

Thanks to all of the replies. I have used r/o water since day one. I am overdue on changing my r/o filters by 2 months. Maybe this is causing part of the problem also.

 

[drummerboy]

mlm made a good point that I didn't mention, I did have my skimmer off for a week after I added it. Definitly don't run the skimmer if you're going to use the red slime remover. But even after a week and a water change, it still has had an effect on the skimmer.

 

[joe's reefer]

some zebra hermits and check for silicates.