Brown algae, good or bad????

[plantweanie]

Once again, bear with me. if not for conflicting info coming from local shops, i would not feel like a total idiot.

i started getting spots of brown algae on the glass yesteday.

Store #1 - this is good. it is a sign of a healthy aquarium. it will go away on its own in a few days. it is made up of diatoms which will feed the filter feeders. snails will eat the excess. leave it alone.

Store #2 - this is bad. if you don't get rid of it immediately, everything will die. tear down the tank and start over.

Store #3 - it is a nuicance that needs to be controlled. scrape it daily and follow with a 20% water change each time until it goes away. listed some chemicals to add to the tank to help get rid of it, but but by now i was only half listening so i don't remember what they were.

So, what is the story on brown algae (at least that is what i am being told it is....)

[tholleyh46]

How long has the tank been up and running? If its new its normal, and a good sign. Congratulations, you're nitrogen cycle is working! BUT, you do need to address it, check your phosphates and try to get nitrate in check and it will go away on its own. You certainly don't need to start over, left unchecked it could turn to hair algae or slime algae which is a real problem, but generally as you look to better your water quality it will go away on its own. Like anything else, cut down its feeding supply (nitrates/phosphates/light) and it will die on its own.

[plantweanie]

How long has the tank been up and running? If its new its normal, and a good sign. Congratulations, you're nitrogen cycle is working! BUT, you do need to address it, check your phosphates and try to get nitrate in check and it will go away on its own. You certainly don't need to start over, left unchecked it could turn to hair algae or slime algae which is a real problem, but generally as you look to better your water quality it will go away on its own. Like anything else, cut down its feeding supply (nitrates/phosphates/light) and it will die on its own.

The tank has been up a couple weeks. Right now you are shaking your head and clucking at my stupidity for having it stocked already - have mercy! We believed what we were told by the local stores. It isn't about the $$ spent, it is about the lives in the tank that I am responsible for, ergo lots of what are probably stupid questions!

Anywho, we are only getting patches of brown. The snails are partying pretty hardy on the spots so we are looking at most a couple of isolated inch'ish patches, and these change depending on which snail gets to it first. Should I be treating or should I leave it to 'micro nature?' NO3 is a little high, PO4 is barely showing on the test, so we are below parameters. Lights: blue's come on at 5:30 am, whites at 7 a.m., (blue's turn off at this time), blues come on at 6 pm,( whites turn off) and blues turn off at 8pm.

other than watching the NO3, anything else need to change???

Thanks! (ps. we are noticing what looks like spider webs forming on rocks and on the substrate - is this the feared 'hair algae?')

[tholleyh46]

Brown algae isn't 'dangerous' and other than being unsightly if your paramaters are othewise good - it will not harm your aqualife. There are steps you can take, just google 'saltwater brown algae bloom' and you'll find plenty of information on dealing with it, my advice is just don't take for gospel the first thing you see, read many views and correlate that to your own tank (you know it best) and go from there. If ammonia and nitrite are near zero and nitrate's a little high, that's fairly normal. Dealing with high nitrates can lead to many avenues, and will be a constant thing - water changes probably the most widely used. Are you using RO/DI water? If not, you can try that out, either filter it yourself or procure some locally.

As for the spider webs, I'm not real sure I can comment from there w/out a photo, but it doesn't sound like hair algae to me.

[plantweanie]

Thanks Tom, i am dilligently searching archives of many forums and web surfing like I have never surfed before. Someday, if I try really realy hard, I hope to grow up to no longer be a saltwater aquarium dweeb. until then, thank goodness for Trochus snails!

[zhenya]

If your tank is only about couple of weeks since being set up than what that brown algae is most likely just diatoms. Which is a part of the cycle progression and should subside once cycle is complete. Having livestock in the system at this point is a mistake, of course, but what's done is done as they say.

Nitrate should also go away as the cycle is finished, and if your system is set up properly you should have almost none at all.
Be patient and let the system comple it;s cycle and do not add anything for at least another three four weeks. Your system will adjust to the nutrient input and you should see decline in the algae on the glass. Do some whater changes and wait some more.., add something else and repeat process of waiting for the system to adjust. ;)

[plantweanie]

Final entry on this thread: bad advice from people trying to sell taken by a moron who wanted to believe.

found a local reefkeeper who actually lives close by to guru me. going to stop water changes and algea cleaning for a couple weeks and let nature take its course. at the end of that time, if my chants, prayers, healing spells and wishing real hard work, i will still have live critters. at the very least, the tank will have properly cycled. scooter blenny and coco worm will be moving into a no frills quarantine tank for the time, the rest of the kids will be on their own. at the end of 2 weeks, we work on a new game plan.

to newbies that may read this: WHATEVER YOU ARE TOLD AT THE POINT OF SALE, i.e. we were told if we start with live rock on sunday, we can stock on wednesday (granted we still waited longer), ADD A MONTH TO THE TIME FRAME!!!!! it is going to be heartbreaking if i lose critters due to stupidity. we are not talking money loss here, we are talking living critters who have done nothing wrong and don't deserve it.

[zhenya]

Final entry on this thread: bad advice from people trying to sell taken by a moron who wanted to believe.

Don't feel so bad, plantweanie, most of us went through something similar at the starting point. We all get very excited at the thought of keeping something beautiful as marine aquarium and sometimes those sales people "help" to nudge us in the wrong direction.
Most of your critters will (aside from that coco worm) will live through this. Snails and small polychaete worms, pods and such. Some will die, unfortunately, but some will live and if conditions are proper they will repopulate.

Good luck!

[tholleyh46]

Don't beat yourself up so bad, we've all been there. Do your best to keep your water cycling, monitored, and intervene where appropriate. Do your homework prior to buying anything. I remember once buying something in an LFS that looked really neat. I saw a yellow and a purple nudibranch in an LFS once and they were so pretty to look at, well, brought them home and attempted to acclimate them. After a few days they didn't look so good so I then decided to research them (LFS told me they didn't require specific foods) so I started researching on my own. Turns out, no one really knows what they eat; not a happy ending. Perhaps some folks have had success with the nudibranch, but I will not get another. Some types of aqualife will thrive in your tank, others won't; but stick with the types that do. Once your system becomes more etablished and you learn more about the different types of life you'll branch out and be successful. If you happen to notice something that isn't thriving, let your new sponsor give it a try in his tank temporarily or see if the LFS will hold on to it for you a while until conditions in your own tank improve. Diatoms are a good sign that the tank is nearing maturity, but you will battle them again, all part of the hobby.

Best of luck!