brown stuff everywere

[mike3843]

I have a 18 gallon tank with a emperor 400, 1 powerhead 25 lbs of live rock and a skillter filter 250. I started the tank 80 days ago with live rock and damsels. My question is is i am still getting lots of brown alge all over the live rock the sand and the glass. I use ro water.My ammonia , nitrites and nitrates are all at zero and it appears that water quality is excellent. How long will this alge be a problem. By the way I have a via aqua 36x2 watt power compact with a 12000k
blue light and a 7100k white light.

[Gottcha]

I have a 18 gallon tank with a emperor 400, 1 powerhead 25 lbs of live rock and a skillter filter 250. I started the tank 80 days ago with live rock and damsels. My question is is i am still getting lots of brown alge all over the live rock the sand and the glass. I use ro water.My ammonia , nitrites and nitrates are all at zero and it appears that water quality is excellent. How long will this alge be a problem. By the way I have a via aqua 36x2 watt power compact with a 12000k
blue light and a 7100k white light.

Having the same problem...any ideas guys????

[Reefland]

Ho Gottcha, Welcome to Reefland!

You guys are mentioning brown stuff which is typically diatoms; a perfectly natural begining to a tank that can not come at all or stick around for several months. Sticking to your maintenance routines, there is nothing special that needs to be done.

If the brown stuff you mention is more of a carpet that can easily be blown off with a powerhead and looks like a mat or sheet of algae, then you've got a whole other problem and you should start by doing a search for cyanobacteria.

Scott Z.

[Gottcha]

This is a picture of my "problem"

http://www.comp-connections.biz/tank/algea1.bmp

[Reefland]

Appears to be diatoms to me. How old is your system?

Scott Z.

[Gottcha]

about a month to a month and a half

[Reefland]

Pretty much to me expected in a new tank and as mentioned, as long as your maintenance includes water changes, filter cleanings, etc. it will go away on it's own in due time.

Scott Z.

[Gottcha]

great...thanks for all your time.