brown algae / diatoms ?

[darylm]

tank has been up and running for approx 6-7 weeks.......when can we expect the brown algae/diatoms to go away
72 gallon 80lbs of live rock hang on skimmer (marine technical concepts TM3000) 5 powerheads 2 clowns 1 yellow tang all three doing great...........waters is in great shape..............any thoughts on the algae

forgot to add PC lighting 2x55watts and one blue 48'' light
lights running about 14 hours a day

[Sohal Tang]

#1 reduce lighting to say 10 hours per day max and when algae problem gone then increase to say 12 hours per day....In the
Caribean for example sun up at 6am sun down around 6pm = 12 hours....so...14 in my opinion is OVERKILL.
Algae lives on NUTRIENTS (UNEATEN FOOD, DETRIS)
and LIGHT...reduce both and starve the algae...

Also...my favorite janitor for the tank is TURBO LARGE SNAILS
that Big Als sells on Dundas...they are about 10 bucks for 3
and they are incredible.... my 90 gallon tank has 3 and they
along with 6 astreas I think they are cleaned it up nicely
when I was hit with bloom on cycling tank....


Good luck
I am not an expert but the above is what I would AND DID do.

Tim
:D

[darylm]

thanks again.......we will put these ideas to use

[ryan_lalande]

is you brown algea forming long strands tht pretty much are easy to swoosh off with you hands

if it is, this may sounds crazy cause noramlly you dont want to do this but

imo

whenever i start a new tank and get that brown stuff i swish all if it off the rocks so its all ovr the tank. useually the skimmer pciks up alot of the flating algea and the rest ussually settles at the top of the tank were it can then be easily removed. has never failed me yet. get ride of the problem in a few weeks

all that was stated was imo
thanks

[darylm]

i have been blowing it off with a turkey baster........is this OK......my skimmer is getting alot of the crap

[nigel]

SIx week the tank is young so It'll go through the algae stage. JUst do regular maintenance syphon it out if you want. Keep the skimmer working and in a couple of weeks you'll see it start to go away.
No need to panic when the tank is new its more of a pain when the reef is over a year old then its a fight.
When I set my reef up I was expecting it , It came stayed a few weeks and then went away

[Sohal Tang]

Yes, I agree with Nigel the stage seems like forever when you are in it but it will pass and soon you will see that it was a
short span of the overall lifespan of your mini reef....


Tim ;)

[afss]

How often and how much are you feeding?
Do you use R/O water?

Blowing the stuff around with a turkey baster shouldn't cause a problem.
Aside from the live rock and skimmer. Do you have any other forms of filtration?

Scott

[darylm]

yes we use RO water but no other form of filteration(as we didnt think we needed any)
feeding 2 clowns and one yellow tang 2-3 times a day
are we overfeeding..........LFS told us when we put the fish in (about 3 weeks ago) that the more we fed them the less stresses they would be when introducing to new tank.....we were feeding 4-5 times a day but cut down recently
again thanks for all the help from everyone

[jastonataquapro]

I found mine only went away after time (just have to wait), always running the skimmer, and what seemed to have a big impact on getting that last dusting removed (which stayed forever) was buying a bunch of nassarius and cerith snails.

I believe a diatom problem could also indicate bad phosphate levels, but with the age of your tank, it's probably not the case*

*I am not an expert

[afss]

you don't really need other forms of filtration.. thats why i asked ;)

Aside from cutting back on your feeding its a matter of time and adding snails etc.

Scott

[kentracey]

I only feed my reef once a day and every few days I hand feed the stars. My discus get fed twice daily. I could be wrong but I don't think too many people here feed two or three times a day.

[Michael_Lambert]

I feed twice aday once in the morning and then at night!

Never a problem..

i dont think its how many times aday you feed them but how much you are feeding!.. you need to ensure all the food is being consumed!