LR and LS turning a shade of brown

[cushen123]

I'm in the 7th day of my new tank, and now i'm noticing some of the ls and most of my lr has changed colors to a light brown. Is this the bad algea or is it the first steps in the cycling of my tank???also, anyone have the coralife super skimmer 65 that they would be willing to comment on??

 

[beth]

Sounds like diatoms.

 

[soo high]

Soon it will be dark brown and it because of your tap water

 

[cushen123]

What should i do about this?

 

[mikeyjer]

Use RO/DI water next time. It will eventually go away and turn into green algae.

 

[crzyfshygy]

I have a 65gl coralife super skimmer and I must say am happy with it. It was originally purchased to skim my 37gl reef which popped 3 months ago. I then bought a 65gl tank and I am running it on that. They say when it comes to skimmers you should always go 2x the tank size, but this skimmer works great. It is not needed. It pulls out brown nasty putty that smells like real nasty cow manure.
If I would complain about anything it would be the red ring on the collection cup. Sometimes you have to retighten it a few times to make sure it seals properly. It looks and feels like it seals but then it leaks, so I have to unscrew it and retighten it. Also I added a phosphate pad one time to my filter for an experiment and the skimmer overskimmed into the cup for 2 days. 4 hours after adding it I realized thats why it was doing it so I removed it and on the 3rd day it did not skim. The bubbles just sat at the top. But everyone says that is standard when adding a chemical pad. Other than that it is a awesome skimmer.

 

[acekjd83]

brown color in a new tank is common, and more important than the color is the texture. is the brown coating sort of fuzzy and chunky, or is it more like a smooth coating of the sand, almost like the sand itself is changing color? the chunky stuff is algae feeding on the ammonia and random wastes, but a smooth coating is diatoms... totally different, not even similar. diatom blooms in tanks ARE due to the dissolved silica in tap water, but they are harmless, and are actually a good food source for filter-feeders. the "brownish" algae is a normal byproduct of fluctuating nitrogen levels, and will go away after the nitrogen is cycled and removed, but if you dont like it you can stir it into your sand and blow it off the rocks, but you cant really remove it or kill it... best bet is to be patient and let nature take its course.