Brown sand

[rushopkins]

I can't seem to get rid of this algae growing on my sand bed. Appeared when I got rid of my goby. Water parameters are normal and nitrates stay around 10. I only feed fish once a day and skip a day during the week. If I leave the light off for a day or two it starts to clear up. I've had this tank running for two years and now this. I'm debating on taking out all the rock and removing the sand. I've tried running numerous rounds of different types of phosphate silicate removers with no results. See pic l


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[54seaweed]

bigger water changes and more water flow will help .
another thing is to bring those nitrates down which the water changes will do

 

[evan47]

I have this problem on my month old tank.
most likely brown diatoms which should go on its own as it is common on newly cycled tanks.
as your tank is older is there anything different you may have done recently that could of caused it such as using tap or distilled water to mix your saltwater instead of ro?
Do you think your tank has been through a mini cycle for some reason?
If my brown diatoms are slow to clear I will have to introduce a couple of snails as the only cuc I have atm are a pair of skunk cleaner shrimp.