Brown Algea....everywhere

[Sparky]

My tank is about finished cycling. Ammonia is at 0 and nitrite is at .3, the nitrate level has stabilized around 15-20. I have alot of brown algea growing on my LR and on the substrate around the rocks. I noticed today that it is on the fake plants I have in there too. Is this a normal phase? Should I do something about it or just let it go? I am attempting to attach a couple of pictures to this post.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Sparky

 

[Sparky]

Oops...one too many pictures there.....sorry

 

[Guest]

mine did the same when i cycled but it went away after awhile.

 

[WarOrks15]

ya it happons to all new tanks. keep lights off untill the cycle is done. and get a clean up crew. tehy will take care of all of it.

 

[Sparky]

OK...now....what is a clean up crew...LOL, I haven't learned all the slang yet.

 

[cmor1701d]

Snails, fighting conch, some shrimp, serpent star fish, etc. Some would add hermit crabs to this list but they tend to go after the snails and each other for the shells. I'm doing my best not add anything with claws. I still have a bunch a hermits

There are many different species of snails, some will breed in the tank.

Take a look at this package from JustPhish.com. It's a crabless cleanup crew package.

I've ordered from them last year and was happy with the service. There are many other online retailers with other clean up crew packages.

 

[Sparky]

OK, thanks.....it is safe to introduce this "cleanup crew to the tank at this point? Like I said my levels are pretty low as of now.

I will check out the link. Thanks.

 

[SquishyFish]

I wouldnt put anything in the tank till the trites are at 0. Even in small doses they can be toxic.

 

[Sparky]

OK. Thanks.....I will wait until then..just looks UGLY!....I can live with it. As long as it's not detrimental to the tank other than looks.

 

[cmor1701d]

I think everyone goes through their brown period. Then maybe a red cyno outbreak, a few diatom blooms, etc. until the tank is quite established. Even then, overfeeding or a change in lighting can bring on another bout.

 

[nodoubt471]

if you really dont like how it looks take a turkey baster or a small submersible powerhead and try to blow some of the stuff off. the brown algae you were talking about should come off fairly easily.

 

[SquishyFish]

I had a bad algae bloom about 2 months ago. I cut back on food, cut the lighting back a little, and increased the circulation and it cleared up....and my tank is 5 years old.

I will say that one thing that helped it clear up faster is that I took a medium strenght power head and blasted all 360lbs of LR w/ it. Cleaned the algae off pretty quickly. Luckily it hadnt killed off my coralline.

 

[Wally]

I totally agree with squishy, wait until the Nitrites are 0 the inverts can be fairly sensative.

 

[Sparky]

Just added some more live rock today. That stuff get expensive. I will be adding about 10 pounds a week until I get 125 pounds or so in the tank.

 

[cmor1701d]

Why not add base rock. The LR you have will seed it and it will be LR in a short time. I bought this rock which was almost pure white when I got it. You can not tell the difference between this rock and the LR I bought at the same time.