Brown stuff on sand

[alane67]

I did a search for brown algae. But the only threads I could find, mentioned diatoms.
What are diatoms?
Also how do you cycle your lights. I bought mine from classifieds on here, and forgot to ask about that one...lol ?
It has VHO, blue acitinic, and moon lights.
How long do your lights on?
I know I have to increase clean up crew. I should have got them first.
Could it be from improper water movement?
I had a very strong single nozzle for the output of my sump, but it seemed too harsh, especially since I eventually want corals. I converted it to a spray bar, but hardly any water current now, that I noticee.
I am going to take that out this weekend and go back to nozzle, buut put it on duo nozzles.
That brown stuff is yucky looking.
Thanks all,
alane

 

[cjason3041]

diatoms are a natural part of cycling a tank....they will go away...keep flow strong

 

[sietedos]

What do you mean by cycle your lights? If you mean how much light should you give your tank while it cycles, I believe the answer is none. It will just add to your algae growth.

 

[spanko]

If by cycle your light you mean how long should they stay on:
Daylight about 8 hours
Actinics about 10 hours
Moonlights the rest of the time.
There are many variations on this but just think about how the days run and the moonlight for the nightime, the actinics to simulate sunup and sundown and the daylights for the daytime.

 

[alane67]

Thanks, yeah that is what I meant how long for each...lol
Also thank you for the information on the brown stuff.
Happy swimming,
Alane