Brown spot appearing in my sand...bad or good?

[lisa g]

I have a 12 gal nano cube. It has 20 lbs sand in it and LR. It has been up for two and half months but until two weeks ago it didn't have anything in it. I have a cleaner shrinp, 3 peppermint shrimp, 2 snails 1 hermit and a damsel. My tank light comes on about 1030 and goes off about 730. I have brown areas appearing in my sand. Is that bad? The rocks have brown, green and pink algae on them. Am I leaving the lights on too long? Any advice?

 

[vi3tb0i]

same thing happend here

 

[jacksdad]

brown spots are diatoms, a natural part of the tank cycle. They will eventually give way to green algae and possibly hair algae. Don't be discouraged if your tank seems to become overrun with algae. It will go away. In my NC24 it took almost 4 months to get rid of it! My lights are from 1PM until 11PM with the moonlights on the other hours of the day. You could use a few more hermits and snails. Also think about a turbo, those things are like vacuums!
Like I said, don't be discouraged. If it gets really bad use a new toothbrush and scrape your LR just before a water change and if you get alot of hair algae just reach in and pull it out.
Best of luck,
Bob

 

[lisa g]

Thanks, I have 1 turbo now but I will get another. I also want to get another hermit. I lost one when he left his shell and he never moved in to the new ones.