Brown Algae everywhere! Need help...

[edrock200]

Hello all,
Bought a 72 gallon bow front tank with a 20 gallon sump and a wet/dry system. I set it up, put 120lbs of live sand in it and 180lbs of cured liverock, though there was a good amount of die off in it when I stuck it in the tank. After a few weeks of curing and cycling my nitrate cycle completed. Tank was setup for about 4 weeks and no ammonia but then I started to get brown algae, and lots of it. It's all over the rock and now growing on the glass. A few days ago I threw in two small yellow clowns, 8 turbo snails and 5 hermit crabs.

Well, still algae everywhere with no sign of it slowing down. Today I turned my lights off (4x65 PC) and plan to leave them off for a few days. Anything else I can do to remedy the situation? Thanks in advance,
-Ed

Here's a pic of it:

 

[TekCat]

It is normal cycle process for new tanks. After initial cycle (ammonia/nitrite) completes, then the second part of the cycle is algae blooms: diatoms(brown stuff), green hair algae, and cyano. Usually they come and go. So, don't worry, as long as you keep nutrients out of the tank (besides minimal feeding), you should be ok, algae will disappear. Just be patient.

What you could do is to add some snails that eat diatoms (like Cerith snails).

 

[Blown 346]

The algae you are experiencing is brown diatoms, and it is totally normal for a newly setup tank. If may also have other algaes like cyano or hair algae grow. These are al a normal part of a new tank basically setling down and maturing. I would suggest a variety of different snails to help.

 

[edrock200]

Great, that makes me feel better. I paniced earlier and purchased one of these kits:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=510

 

[dc]

Well I've heard if you turn your lights off for a couple weeks it will go away. I've done that with my FW tank and it worked for that.

 

[edrock200]

So the brown algae went away, and now theres green algae everywhere...I've been setup for about 1 1/2 months...is this normal?

 

[sunfish11]

Yes, it is normal. The lush green hair algea comes after the brown gunky stuff. You could use a bigger clean up crew though. For a 72 gallon I would get some more snail and hermits. They will plow through it in a few day and then you should be about ready for fish!

 

[edrock200]

Thanks for the quick reply. I already have a few fish in there, they've been in there for about 2-3 weeks, they went in shortly after the tank cycled, but they seem fine and tank water levels are good. I'll expand the crew, thanks again.

 

[williams-crist]

So. my tank has been up for about 8 months. It's also a 72 gallon bowfront Lately, I've been fighting this very same problem.

Now I'm wondering how much of it is my setup?

I have a HOB filter and an Aqua C remora HOB protein skimmer that I bought second hand. Did not have much rock in the tank but just the rock I had moved over from a 20 gallon tank. ( I don't remember how many pounds). Also, not much of a cleanup crew. Always, had some nitrates (okay so like 20ppm ) but mushrooms and seastars did okay

So, in come the icky brown algae.

Well, to be honest not many weeks after I started feeding flake food because a new fish liked it and so did everyone else. Also, getting into the lazy groove I missed a few RO water runs and may or may not have (okay,well I did dump some tap water into my tank for like two months). Also, did not test nitrates or anything else during that time frame.

With the algae and that guilty knawing pain in my belly and also feeling not so proud of my tank at this point. I did a really big water change. ( I knew my phosphates and nitrates were probably high). Ordered a cleanup crew, bought lots of live rock from someone who was tearing down their tank and ordered a new filter and some chem clean.

So things went well after the big water change and a dose of the chem clean. It looked like things were clearing up.

But now a week later things look yucky again and today I tested my nitrates and they are like 40 ppm and that was after a second big water change and a delivery of some corals I thought I was now safe to buy. The new filter that I got is too big for me to add to the back of my tank with the aqua c remora protein skimmer.

So, what do I do. Leave the protein skimmer and add the new filter. ( It works a lot better then the other one but the idea was to double up on filtration, the new filter is for up to 80 gallons)?

So, with my nitrates so high. This is going to take a lot of water changes and money in salt to get the nitrates down. Not to mention until the end of time to get them where they need to be.

So, please fix my setup!

Is there anyway my tank can be successful with this setup. I know I need a good, fairly inexpensive RO/DI unit to get through this but was worried about how it works. Do you leave it hooked up all the time? Does is hook up to the sink? How to catch the water? Does it waste a lot of water. Just worried how it might get in the way in the kitchen with only one good sink. (The rest of the sinks in the house are all about pedestal sinks with not a very big basin).

Heard of www.firewaterice.com or something like that a long time ago and they had a home filtration unit. Does anyone recommend that?

Okay, so please advice to bring nitrates down. Changes in setup? Kill brown algae?

So now that I have more live rock do I still need charcoal pads in the filter? are the biowheels contributing to nitrates?

Thank you for any help,
Debra

 

[serio]

when i had the problem i bought a UV sterilizer and kleen the brown alage the best i could and it whent away. the UV sterilizer did the job. ever since then i havent had the brown filme alage

 

[hutch1814]

well marine tanks arent just a fish tank they do require more then your normal freshwater tank! i never did invest in a RO system i just go to my LPS and they sell it. i have never been a fan of that chem clean it seems to just add more stress then anything , but to help you i add a problem with this few months ago i just did about 60% water change and scrubbed every rock then i slowly broke my light back in the tank like it was a new setup i also put my fish in the QT tank for that time so their feeding didnt add unwanted stuff in the water i also added a UV filter in the sump to help kill the algae that was left cause lets face it you will never get it all out when u clean but i hope this helps you!!! good luck