Brown algae growth on glass...

[Clownfish9906]

hi guys and girls

I have noticed that I have brown algae growing on my glass and pipes within the DT.

I have recently introduced chaeto/caulerpa into my refuge and more recently used a 20w cfl bulb to light up the refuge area when the DT lighting is off...



I know it is faint - but just asking so I am prepared...

[mandarinman]

how long has your tank being running? that brown stuff you have (i think it is diatoms)is part of the true cycling process. it goes something like this. ammonia,nitrites,nitrates, diatoms panic,hair algae panic some more, cyanobacteria curse. get water perameters right. pure happiness. it is speculated that diatoms comes from silicates.. ps good tank husbandry and quick adaptation where necessary will reduce how and for how long negatives will influence tank. i havw also found that if you carbon dose more than what your bacteria can handle you get diatoms and possibly cyanobacteria.

[Clownfish9906]

thanks for the reply Mandarinman...

My tank is relatively new - 3weeks old. Have been dosing with satbility. Did not have anything dying or has anything died since then. Checked nitrates - 0.1.

I have some hair algae growing on some of the live rock, the hermits are chomping away at some of the bits.

You mentioned carbon dosing? Would that be vodka, etc? I am not as yet dosing with anything - I thought I would have to let the tank mature enough before starting dosing, etc. The skimmer is set to pull of dry skimmate - which it seems to get right.

If its the normal process, then am sure it will be fine...so I guess the panic phase is nearly over...

[mandarinman]

Originally Posted by Clownfish9906

thanks for the reply Mandarinman...

My tank is relatively new - 3weeks old. Have been dosing with satbility. Did not have anything dying or has anything died since then. Checked nitrates - 0.1.

I have some hair algae growing on some of the live rock, the hermits are chomping away at some of the bits.

You mentioned carbon dosing? Would that be vodka, etc? I am not as yet dosing with anything - I thought I would have to let the tank mature enough before starting dosing, etc. The skimmer is set to pull of dry skimmate - which it seems to get right.

If its the normal process, then am sure it will be fine...so I guess the panic phase is nearly over...

i personally would not dose carbon until tank is settled with its fullish amount of livestock. when u want to start that side of things chat to me and lets chat first. try feed minimally if at all. let the hermits rather keep eating algae of the curing liverock.

[crispin]

thats a lovely population of diatoms growing there, just give it some time and they will burn themselves out.
your tank just needs some time to develop its biological filtration and to stabalize itself. Then u can start stocking fish slowly so that the tank keeps up with the increased bioload

[Clownfish9906]

thanks guys for the replies...

i have got microbelift which I will dose in small quantities to stabilise the bacteria load in the tank.

Would you guys recommend the use of activated carbon in the tank? Or is this going to make matters worse?

[mandarinman]

dose the bacteria and let the diatoms run their course. a bit of filter wool to sift particles out ofwater is always good. activated carbon will polish water for you but i would leave it for a while and let the cycling finish up. use a algae magnet to loosen diatoms off glass so that filter wool can filter it out imo.

[Clownfish9906]

ok - here goes

I have dosed the first day with Special Blend...

I fed minimally this morning and left for work...

I arrive home to this...







ok, the green bits were there before the diatoms...maybe the caulerpa going all sexual on me...lol

But now, there are bubbles on and or with the brown/green algae...

[mandarinman]

use magnet to loosen off. part of the fun and cycling

[Clownfish9906]

hey Mandarinman...thx for the reply!

OK, so I am guessing this is normal!!!

I did not a cleaner as yet...will do over the weekend...its ok though, the blennies and gobies are having fun eating the stuff...they even have made a design that looks like crop circles...lol

[mandarinman]

cool . what light time have u got per day. if it is more than eight hours reduce it for a while

[AdamVR]

Green hair algae!!

[AdamVR]

Hey Clownfish

My tank is approx one month older than yours. All I can say is it looks like your cycle is going well. I'm currently at the cyano stage. It will get better.

Remember nothing good happens fast on an ice rink or in a fish tank.

Good luck, love your layout.

Cheers
Adam

[B00tCamp]

Hey Clownfish!

Told you you were panicking for nothing! lol

Tanks looking good! Cycling nicely!

[Clownfish9906]

@mandarinman - had 2 x 54w T5's in Actinic and daylight (6500K). Now I have 4 x 54w T5's in Actinic and daylight (6500K) in a diy lighting fixture...

@AdamVR - will just have to see as the algae grows...Thx for the compliment - hope you visited my thread...

@B00tCamp...was not panicking - just want to know what is going on so I can be prepared for the next step, etc...

[crispin]

you are going to have to slow right down with that tank else you will get into long term issues with algaes. that bloom of algae is just a way for the tank to show you that its under developed with regards to being able to process the waste thats in it and needs time to cycle, stabalise and then mature.

an algae bloom like that is never worth ignoring.

[Clownfish9906]

hi Crsipsin - slow down as int? Please tell me what advice you can assist me with...?

I have dosed with stability - bottle nearly empty.

Have started using special blend...

I have a DNW150 skimmer which runs 24/7 - have tuned it now and am getting dry skimmate out - yesterday's skimmate was green...eew! Skimmer is gravity fed and all water gets into the skimmer before it enters the return pump chamber.

Have 4 x 54w T5's in actinic and daylight - running them for 14hrs a day with a 4hr break midday.

I have chaeto and caulerpa in the sump. I have a 20w cfl in daylight on the reverse cycle with an hr overlap in the morning and evening. I have a relatively small dsb...which is trickle fed from the return pump.

I have a few hermits and gobies/blennies, 4 Glassies (Family Ambassidae) which have are there for over a week...which are fed flakes with brine shrimp. I fed heavily the first fe days but have got it down to 2 pinches a session

Have a xenia frag, frogspawn frag, some zoas and polyps...a montipora and some mushrooms...

Any advice will be apreciated...

[crispin]

by slow down i mean you have to leave the tank to stabilize (and help it to reach a point of stability as you are doing with the dosing o bacteria based products).

This tank is just simply too young for the bio load (waste produced) it holds and thus the biological filtration isn't keeping up.

I would cut your feeding to once a day and not add any more fish for a good long while.

i would also be religious with testing and water changes, 10-15% a week without fail for a while, so that you can reduce the build up of waste in a large increment.

thats a lovely skimmer you have there and if its fine tuned to be skimming dry thats fine, although personally with a tank thats going through algae blooms like this i would skim wetter and calculate the skimate production into my water change routine.

[Clownfish9906]

thx Crispin - much appreciate the advice.

I do not intend on adding additional livestock for ATLEAST a month. Am sure that will help. Will reduce feeding.

I test for nitrates weekly - managed to get between 2.5 to 5ppm - seemed alot closer to 2.5 and would
guess 3.5.

[mandarinman]

cut your lighting time down boet 14 hours is much too much.bring it down to ten hours for a while. imo but eight would be better