What do I do with brown algae? - New to the hobby

[boilermaker]

I am VERY new -- my tank is 1 week old today. The sand and the lr look as though they have been sprinkled with cinnamon. I know it's brown algae; but am I supposed to DO anything with it? Do I stir it up and let the filter take care of it or just leave it alone?
Also -- I'm trying to cycle my tank with just lr. My ammonia levels never got that high. In fact -- I'm pretty confused about this. My pH is 8.2, specific gravity is 1.022, ammonia is .5, trite is .25 but trate is 20. All I have ever had in the tank is live sand and live rock. Is this right or is something bad going on?

 

[cycle1]

I'm pretty sure that your situation is typical and usual. Have you thought of adding maybe some damsels in your tank to help with the cycle. As far as the brown algae, it really looks crappy but it should soon go away. I had the same situation and eventually it went away. You may want to scrape the algae off of the glass surface. Just a little input from a novice that has dealt with the brown stuff already! <img src="graemlins//silly.gif" border="0" alt="[silly]" />

 

[rabid frog]

They told me it was norm.. I came home the other day and my whole tank was covered in brown algae.. I am no subject matter expert but I beleive it is just going through an "algae cycle" I could be wrong so someone please help this person...

 

[saltwaterdave]

it ia called diatom alage and it is very normal,cernith snails eat it up really good...How much lr is in your tank? what size tank? Some people use damsels to help cycle the tank and some use shrimp to help it get going..I used damsels....u really need to give your tank time and have patience...Welcome to the board and GOOD LUCK!!

 

[karlas]

your tank is still cycling if showing any amm or nitrites. a lot of tanks take a month or more to cycle this is where the biggest part of the waiting comes in.
you might want to throw some table shrimp in this is better than damsels. the cycle is very hard on damsels and even though some live throug it they go throug a lot of stress. a lot of them will die from it. the alge is part of the starting of a new tank. just about every tank goes through it. best to leave it alone for now. your ph and salt are at good levels. this thread will help explain the nitrogen cycle a lot. <a href="http://www.reefcorner.com/Manual/nitrogen_cycle.htm" target="_blank">n cycle</a> after reading this you should understand what is going on in your tank. after the cycle then you start your water changes and get a clean up crew they will help control the alge.

 

[jastim]

Because you are using lr to cycle your tank, your tank should cycle relatively quickly. However, one mistake that many run into is mini-cycles once the tank is "cycled" and they start adding fish. This problem occurs when the bio-load that you expose your tank to during the cycling phase is much less than when you start adding fish. The established bacteria are not adequate to support the new additions so you go through another minicycle. To avoid this do two things:
1) Add a piece of shrimp to increase your bioload so you establish more beneficial bacteria. I agree with the comments above regarding using shrimp rather than damsels. The high ammonia and nitrites are not good on any fish and there is no benefit to using damsels as opposed to grocery store shrimp.
2) When your tank is finished cycling add fish slowly one fish at a time and wait a few weeks between fish additions
You must be patience or this hobby gets very expensive very quickly.
Good luck!!

 

[tattoogirl]

im new too, but i know to be sure to get an white acrylic pad for acrylic tank, and green one for a glass tank(so you dont scratch the acrylic)