What is this brown stuff?

[paulr]

This stuff on the sand just showed up. Found it in a couple places. Its some brown material. Not changing any chemistry in the tank but is it algae? Attached pic.

 

[DIZZLE808]

This stuff on the sand just showed up. Found it in a couple places. Its some brown material. Not changing any chemistry in the tank but is it algae? Attached pic.

Looks like diatoms. I just had a diatom bloom in my tank, mostly on my base rock though

 

[CorallineAlgae]

If it's diatoms it should go away on it's own but a clean up crew will help get rid of it. It doesn't look like you have a bad bloom though.

 

[paulr]

I got 3 snails and 3 crabs about 4 days ago. They maybe have not got to it yet. Can i syphon it out? I am doing a water change next week.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Siphoning may help but RO water, time and careful feeding will be your friends for this algae. Every tank goes through a diatom bloom but it goes away on it's own after it consumes the silicates. You needn't worry. It's totally normal. It will probably get a little worse before it goes away but it will go away (unless you're using tap water in the tank).

 

[paulr]

I have just 2 fish and feed maybe a 1/4-1/3 of a shrimp cube every other day s i dont think i am overfeeding. I did use tap water to fill the tank up but did use a de chlorinator at the suggestion of my local shop. I was thinking of getting distilled water when i do my change but not sure if that chemical is really ok?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

You should look somewhere to buy RO water. Nearly all fish stores sell it as do large grocery stores. Most people buy a couple of 5 gallon buckets only for aquarium use. You can also get nice 6 gallon water jugs from Academy Sports. That's what I've always used. Tap water will cause all kinds of problems in a saltwater tank.

If you have some money to spend it's always best to get a little RO filter to use at your house.