Brown algae

[Webman]

I have a 55 gallon...

I have a lawnmower blenny, a purple firefish, a grenn goby, a pistol shrimp, a horseshoe crab and about 20 snails and hermit carbs.
I have 55 pounds of live rock with a 1 1/2 inch sand bed. It's been up for about 15 months. At one point everything was very clear and I didn't have this problem.

I feed them flakes in the morning and then frozen formula 1 & 2 at night. But I only give them enough to eat within 10 minutes.

I'm not sure what you mean by photo.

Is there something I can add that would reduce nitrates in addition to water changes?

Thanks

[Aragorn]

Webman,

Adding more sand might help. 1.5" of sand, IMO, is not alot. Also, I can't speak highly enough for implementing a refugium and adding a DSB, LR, and macro algae(caulerpa). The macro algae will effectively take up and lock out the nitrates. By making the refugium a more hospitable place for algae to grow, the algae will not take up "residence" in the main tank. HTH

[Webman]

What's DSB and how much Caulerpa is needed?

Thanks

[Aragorn]

Sorry,

DSB: Deep Sand Bed....3" or better

How much caulerpa? Not much to start. Remember it's job is to "export" nitrates, therefore, in a nutrient rich environment, it'll grow like a weed.

[SomeHairyOldGuy]

I agree with Aragorn but also it seems like you feed your livestock quite a bit. I feed mine once a day. Just enough for then to consume in about 5 minutes. Either flakes, pellets, or frozen mysis shrimp. Just my .02.
SHOG

[kevinpo]

I feed my fish only until they get a few bites each. Fish have very small capacity for food because in nature most reef fish are designed to eat very small amounts often (there are exceptions). In the wild with such a large amount of livestock for the food available when food it present they swarm on it each one only receiving a few mouthfulls. In the home aquarium the competition is thinned considerably and the feeding increased well beyond the natural levels. I am guilty of this also (the proof is presented by the fact that my fish in 6 months or a little longer get quite overweight/fat) IMO if your fish get a few mouthfulls that is plenty. I can honestly say I have never had a fish since 1985 starve that was eating well. if you have live rock with macro algae growing on it and you are performing water changes at least once a month your nitrates should be zero.

HTH,
Kevin
FWIW:I also agree with the posts below

[Webman]

Does anyone have a pic of a refugium?

How about some do's and don'ts?

Thanks

[Aragorn]

Here's a few pic's of my refugium on my 72g:

[Aragorn]

Didn't like that upload. I'll try again.

[Aragorn]

2nd try:

[Aragorn]

For some reason my uploads are getting "hosed" cuz they look fine on my PC. Sorry.

[Webman]

I finally figured out what my problem was with the brown algae.

My calcium is 475 which is good but my alkalinity was very low. I raised it and I don't get the brown algae within 24 hours. Nitrate, Nitrites, Phosphates and Ammonia at 0.

I was really tired of cleaning the tank everyday after work just to see my tank.

Thanks
Webman