Brown Slime Algea????

[aredmon]

Ok. I didn't want to worry about it to much but it is getting realy bad. I have a 75 gal. tank. It is a new one only about 3 and a half months old. The readings are
Amm 0
Nitrites 0
Ph 8.2
Nitrates 5.0
I went through the diatom algea stage for about 2 weeks. I seen it almost all go away and then it looked as if it was coming back again. So I just kept doing what I was doing to hope it would go away. I noticed it getting realy bad on the sand and it started to grow what looked like hair and then it started to form bubbles in it and so I felt it and it is realy slimey. I have 6 hermits, 1 margarita snail, 4 turbo snails, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 cc star, and an emerald crab. They don't go near the stuff. I pointed power heads right over the sand but it doesn't seem to help and the sand is realy clumped up were it is so I tried to scoop some up and stur it around a little and the stuff stinks. I know I need a bigger clean up crew but what else should I get how much of it and what can I do to get rid of the slime. btw I thought it may be cyno but is cyno brown??
Thanks!!!

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by aredmon
Ok. I didn't want to worry about it to much but it is getting realy bad. I have a 75 gal. tank. It is a new one only about 3 and a half months old. The readings are
Amm 0
Nitrites 0
Ph 8.2
Nitrates 5.0
I went through the diatom algea stage for about 2 weeks. I seen it almost all go away and then it looked as if it was coming back again. So I just kept doing what I was doing to hope it would go away. I noticed it getting realy bad on the sand and it started to grow what looked like hair and then it started to form bubbles in it and so I felt it and it is realy slimey. I have 6 hermits, 1 margarita snail, 4 turbo snails, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 cc star, and an emerald crab. They don't go near the stuff. I pointed power heads right over the sand but it doesn't seem to help and the sand is realy clumped up were it is so I tried to scoop some up and stur it around a little and the stuff stinks. I know I need a bigger clean up crew but what else should I get how much of it and what can I do to get rid of the slime. btw I thought it may be cyno but is cyno brown??
Thanks!!!
This stuff is fairly common in young tanks. What type of water are you using? Tap water will cause stuffs like this. You do mean 5ppm in Nitrates right? What type of lighting are you using? What size of tank? I would just siphon it out during water changes, that's what I did before. :happyfish

 

[tatoush]

If its what I think it is, it could be excess phosphorus in your tank, anybody care to agree or disagree. I had the same thing happen to me in my tank when it was fairly new and I bought a powder that will get rid of the brown algae very quickly and is not harmful to fish. I can check what the powder was when I get home.
Levon

 

[aredmon]

Thanks. I am using RO water. I have only the lights that came with the setup. It isn't much but I don't plan on keeping any corals or anything. What causes Phosphorus?? Is there anything I can do to help get rid of it or just wait it out?? Should i get a bigger clean up crew??

 

[it's_fishy]

i wish i could post a pic....or you could....and i may be way off but there's a slight possibility it could be chestnut brown algae. it has a red corraline form and a brownish 'algae' form that looks like a slimy carpet. one of my LR came covered in the red coralline and it has since spread a bit throughout my tank in it's other form. one particular non-poruos LR it has taken over but it's not dominating my tank by any means. my cleaners don't seem at all interested in it...however, the carpet algae form isn't touching my LS so it may be something different.
chestnut brown algae is harmless by the way and easily removed...so if it happens to be that you needn't be concerned...unless of course it's detracting from your tank's desired look.
JMHO

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by aredmon
Thanks. I am using RO water. I have only the lights that came with the setup. It isn't much but I don't plan on keeping any corals or anything. What causes Phosphorus?? Is there anything I can do to help get rid of it or just wait it out?? Should i get a bigger clean up crew??
If your using RO water, you shouldn't have to worry about phosphorus. How old the are the bulbs? Old bulbs can cause that, probably needs to be changed. As your tank matures a little longer, it can just go away on it's own. But in the mean time, you can always vaccum it out during water change. :happyfish

 

[aredmon]

I tried vacing it last night. It has got my sand so clumped up on the top layer that it hardly even sucked up. But what did smelled up my house. That stuff was rank!!! :scared: I have noticed that it isn't as bad in the morning as it is in the afternoon so I left my lights out today to see it it helps it to go away. I am not as worried since it is probably nothing to hurt fish but it realy is nastly looking. I will try to get a pic of it. It isn't as bad since I stirred it up but some places are still bad with it. Plus my lights are not even a month old yet so I don't think that is it. Thanks for helping!!!! You all have been great. If anyone else has any ideas feel free to let them fly.

 

[xrobbx03]

IMO I think its just because its a fairly new tank. I had the same problem in mine but once i added a decent cleanup crew and let the tank mature for another few weeks or so it gradually went away. :happyfish