brown on LR

[mellowyellow]

I'm seeing brown on the live rock in my saltwater tank...also some pretty blue. Should the brown be wiped off or is it a good thing? please let me know. All parameters are in line I've just checked.

 

[melosu58]

Is the brown hard or is it dusty like? Or slimey?

 

[mellowyellow]

Mike: I just took a swim in the tank and the brown on the LR is hard. Nothing moved or slimed when I touched it.

 

[thincat]

People "We can not read your minds" Fine is not a measurement, it's a feeling. If you want help please give us some parameters in numbers not in feelings. ie, I feel fine after my morning walk. Now was the walk from the bedroom to the kitchen or was it a 2 mile stroll....................lol

 

[melosu58]

If it`s hard then it must be some type of corralline. Can we get a pic by the way.

 

[CaptainAhab]

I must have missed someone asking for them. Anyway, the implications are that if it's dusty then the assumption is that it's diatoms. If it's slimey then it's cyanobacteria (slime algae). The parameter reference is probably in reference to you nitrate and phosphate levels (assuming your fully cycled). The problem here is that if your nitrate and phosphates are low then some will presume they are low because the algae that is growing is consuming them and the reading is not really an indication of high levels. IMO it's a no win proposition unless they are high AND you have an algae outbreak

Algae is a fact of life. Feed quality food, water changes, macro algae, etc etc will help but I get outbreaks for no good reason then 30 days later it's gone for months and then bang.. back again (btw NOW is again for me .. grrr).

So read up on diatoms, cyano, hair algae etc... and if it's a new tank then welcome to the world of salt water. Your most likely going to go thru an ugly algae period where you get all of them either all at once or over time as your tank settles in.

 

[mellowyellow]

thincat: Thanks for replying. Sorry I didn't provide the stats. Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10. The tank is fully cycled.

 

[mellowyellow]

Mike: Don't have pics yet Will try in the future. Is corralline ok?

 

[cabezon]

coraline is the pink or purple algae that grows on the live rock (and everything else) that many people like. Nothing good or bad about it except it looks pretty.

I have a very pretty Magenta cyano outbreak. too bad it swamps over my corals and kills them.

 

[thincat]

thincat: Thanks for replying. Sorry I didn't provide the stats. Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10. The tank is fully cycled.

No problem, I hope you understand that it's hard to understand your problem and help without solid numbers.