Browngreen algae take over

[damseldame]

Can someone please help? I am just a month into this hobby and loving it, but hating it at the same time. A brown algae showed up in my tank last week and has taken over. I do a 10% water change every week. I noticed today a green algae is now beginning to grow. Also my water is beginning to get cloudy. One more problem my nitrites are sky rocketing 0.5+. Sorry for the long post. I have so many questions.
55 gal
5 Damsels
1 Dwarf Lion
I (had) 1 percula clown lost it Wed. night to ick
I would appreciate any info.

 

[nacl-h2o]

It is common to have an algae blom in a new tank. And you will need to keep some snails around to help control it. As long as you are feeding fish you are adding nutreints that will feed the algea. Another thing you may want to check is your source water prior to topping off and doing water changes. Check it for nitrates and phosphates to make sure your water is not an additional source.

 

[ruaround]

You stated that youd only been in the hobby a month...Had your tank fully cycle yet? The algae bloom and tank cloudyness sound as though it didnt.

 

[damseldame]

I sure appreciate your info Na H20 and Ruaround. I spoke to one of my LFS and he told me that the tank was not fully cycled yet. What kind of snails do you recommend? Since it has taken over the tank is there any thing I can put in the tank to get it under control quickly?

 

[saltwaterdave]

the brown alage is a diatom bloom and that is normal in a new tank...the green alage is probally the of the green hair type...it seems that your tank has not completely cycled yet...sorry for the spelling problems I never learned to type!! Anyway....cernith(sp?) snails will help with the diatom and I think turbos will eat the green pretty good...what kind of lighting are u using? How long are u leaving the lights on?U might want to cut down on the time your lights are on...that will help cool down the alage growth...I am new but I hope that helps!

 

[damseldame]

Thanks for the reply SWDave. I thought about the lights being a problem. I leave them on from about 6:30 am to 8:30 pm. They are not very good quality. My husband bought them @ Homedepo (I think). By the time we got the tank and everything else he decided to go cheap on the lights. I also think I might be over feeding. I started to feed twice a day on the advice of my LFS since that is what they do.

 

[jedchuah]

DamselDame,
Looks like we more or less have the same problem.
Check some replies under my
question "hairy Growth"
It might help!

 

[saltwaterdave]

did u get the ick problem under control? I have read on here that garlic helps with the ick..u soak the food in garlic to help prevent the ick...I still have a cheap light also..but I do not plan on keeping expensive corals at this time...lots to learn still.. ....doing the fowlr deal....get u a good cleaner crew going and they will help control the alage....GOOD LUCK AND HAVE PATIENCE.....

 

[full of questions]

Feeding twice a day is not a good thing,especially if your feeding alot both times.
I ffed every other day,for the main meal,and on
the other days i just give them a pinch of flake
food.If you continue to feed alot twice a day,your goin to have alot of trouble,unless
you have great filtration.

 

[damseldame]

I don't think the ick is gone completely. My Domino Damsel seems to be scraping himself on the rocks but I don't see any spots on him. My 3 striped Damsel had some spots but the went away a couple of weeks ago and haven't returned. I just keep watching them. I'm going to do a water change tomorrow to try and get my nitrites down. Maybe I will lower the salinity level alittle and see if that helps the ick.
<img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" />

 

[damseldame]

Hey Fullofquestions, Your SN describes how I feel. Thanks alot for the info on feeding. I noticed that is when the algae started to really take off or over I should say. I have read alot about the garlic on this forum so tonight I started that. I have minced garlic in its own liquid it sure smelled strong, I hope it is the right thing. <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" />