brown algea growning on sand??

[aredmon]

As long as you don't have any corals or anything that requires light I would realy try turning them off for 24hrs. I have never tried the bottled saltwater so I don't know how that is but I guess it is probably pretty good. I looked at a book that identifies this algae. Couldn't tell ya the actual name of it but it isn't diatom. I call it "pain in the a**". There realy isn't anything to do but wait. I would't use chemicals. Just try and wait it out. I clean mine and even try to vac the top layer of sand to get some of it. The stuff floating around in the water the filter will pick up. The book said that there is nothing realy to do but keep up on water changes, clean the glass, up the water flow over the area, and decrease light usage by over half and wait. Cleaning crews won't touch the stuff. Mine has been there for about a month and is still there but has faded alot by just doing the above. I hope you have luck in getting rid of yours faster but patience is the key.

 

[clown52]

no tap or RO water.. i use nutri-sea water.. that saltwater in a jug stuff.. and i think ts exactly what ur describing, AREDMON, some places look slimey and could grow intro hairs but its mostly fuzzy with bubbles in the thick spots
Sounds to me like Cyno. Let me see if I can find you a link with more info....
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=73002
BOOYA!

 

[aredmon]

NO not cyno. I will have to re-look up the name for it. It is alot like it in alot of ways.
I don't know about jds but that is not what mine is. Mine is brown 100%.

 

[jds31788]

yeah same here.. it looks exactly the same except totaly different .. :notsure: deffinately not red.. here a pic... thanks anyway CLOWN52

 

[jds31788]

there are some places with bubbles but i didnt get any pics of that.. hope this helps
Thanks!

 

[aredmon]

Yes that is exactly what I have but mine got worse. It has long stands of hair coming off of it now. It just takes time.

 

[jds31788]

thanks for the reasurance.. i think :notsure:

 

[jds31788]

i tried turning off the light today but i added some fern kelerpa to help with my trite problem and i cant really shut off the lights now.. should i check for phosphates?? what is feeding this stuff?? What eats it?
hope u guys can help
thanks

 

[jds31788]

please help this algea is growing like madness in the spring.. and its driving me crazy! i think its depressing my fish...

 

[jds31788]

should i post a new thread to draw attention?? cause no one is replying

 

[aredmon]

Sorry. I think mine was the natrates feeding it. What is your trats at. Nothing that I know of will eat the stuff. It sounds like yours is going to get as bad as mine did. It will go away on its own but it realy does take a long time. It is just an algea bloom. Once you system has figured out the problem it will take it awile to correct it. bac needs to be formed an so on. Just do a light vac over the sand when you do your water changes. You will suck some of it out and what floats around your filter will pick up. After you do your water change and all the gunk has been sucked into the filter, clean out your filter to get the algea it got out also. This will help control it. You can also check your phosphates and let me kow what they are. How much and how often do you feed and what are your current readings?

 

[jds31788]

ahh thank you for replying!! uhhm i dont have any test kits..except a hydrometer but i had my water checked at the lfs yesterday and if i remember corectly my salinity was 1.025,ph8.2,trates were high im not sure the exact# maybe like 2. something, trites were a a hair over .5.. temp is around 78. amonia was kinda high too i dont remember the # just the color.. the less useful or the two.. but it was pretty pink.. they were much higher though i almost lost my fish.. luckily some mangrove roots saved me but the trites and amonia are still a little high.. i made the mistake of cleaning both filters at once and i think thats what spiked my amonia, trites and algea outbreak.. hope this helps thanks again for the reply

 

[aredmon]

NO problem. I am only around a computer for a few hours a day.
OK. Your wacky readings are what is feeding this stuff. I would suggest doing multiple water changes for a week. Try doing a 5gal. water change 3 times. Ex. Today change 5 gal. Sat. change 5 more and Mon. change 5 more. Some may beg to differ. Thay may say do more or do a 5 gal everyday for 3 days. It is up to you but I have a 75 gal. and I just did a bunch of water changes everyother day till I had taken out about 50% of the water to get my nitrates down. Once you get your levals under control try the lighting thing. Then it will help. I realy would get a test kit of your own. I have never dealed with the strips before but I have heard nothing but negative feedback about them. Get the test tube kit and try the test on your own. I bet you will be much happier.

 

[jds31788]

ok ill see what i can do.. thanks again!

 

[jds31788]

my lfs uses the test strips.. what is a better alternative.. test tube?? im not sure what that is.. how expensive is it.. i dont have enough bio load to really worry about testing it yet.. i do want to get something before i start corals though.. sny feedback??

 

[aredmon]

I use aquarium pharmisuticals brand. They have done fine for me. I call it the test tube kind. It is just a liquid solution you mix up in glass containers with your saltwater and they give a much better reading. You can get them at most any fish store. I got mine at *****. It was a kit for amm, nitrate, nitrite, and ph. It cost me $25. You will need more tests than just these 4 if you are going to do corals but this will start you out nicely!

 

[dischirm]

Hi,
Long post btw you two, so I just sorted of skimmed but here is my take.
First, what you have is Diatoms. Very Very common in newly established tanks. You just need to wait it out. You can lightly brush off the rocks and drain the gunk out of there, but the only thing to make it go away is : Time, less lighting, and less nutrients.
You keep saying that your plant life is going to take care of the trites. This is incorrect. Macroalgae takes nitrates out of your tank and that is what the algae is feeding on. Nitrites are BAD and the chemical reaction in your tank when you cycle it is what converts nitrites to nitrates. Nitrates are ok if you do not have coral. Coral and invertabrates are very sensitive to nitrates. Everything is sensitive to nitrites. (yes can be confusing)
I would advise that you cut your lighting back to 6-8 hours a day until diatoms are gone and feed less. Excess food causes nitrates which feed algae.
Once your tank is 6 months old or so, you shoiuld not have any problem with that type of thing as long as you are not overfeeding or using tap water.
Hope this helps a little. We all go through that stage.

 

[weberian]

Very nice post, Dischirm.

 

[aredmon]

I know what I have is not diatom but may very well be jds problem. In either case they should both be treated the same way. I agree 100%.