Brown algae?

[B-NASTY]

i have a 75 g tank and its been set up for about 5 months now i guess....for the past 2 months almost i have been having a problem with brown algae? i just can't get rid of it..ive bought many snails, crabs,,ect...ive done water changes even when my water tested out great....
even before the water changes my water tested as follows.
ph-8.2
nitrate-0
nitrite-0
phosphate-0
ammonia-0

i really dont know what else i can do to get rid of this brown algae. it looks horrible..its all over the back glass of my tank..on the rocks some...powerheads....and when i scrape it off everything it just sits on top of my sand and so then i stir it up and try 2 skim it out with a net and it just dont help much..and within a few days it looks just the same as if i never scraped it out or messed with it? any ideas of hints of what to do...help would be greatly appreciated. ...ohh i have also cut down my lighting hours and it still seems to not help!
thanks
Brandon

 

[Chelsey]

What temp is your tank running at? How much live rock/sand do you have? What are the inhabitants of the tank? What form of lighting do you use?

 

[B-NASTY]

i have about 400 watts of lighting....my temp is runnin right at like 79 degrees....i have a bit over 50lbs of liverock prolly...maybe more? and i have about a good 2 inches thick of sand!..all i ahve in the tank is a blue tang,2 clownfish, and 2 coral banded shrimp

 

[Reggae Fish]

What kind of lights? MH, PC, etc...What have you cut your lighting period down to?...Also, I assure you letmegrow will tell you run your tank at least at 82 degrees to simulate real conditions. since changing my temp. up, everything has looked much happier than when it was 78-80He hasn't steered me wrong yet...He always give advice based on FACTS which is nice.

How often are your water changes? How much do you change? Are you running carbon?

 

[Reggae Fish]

I was thinking that was Steve posting since he always has a goofy pic...But no...It's Steve's Squeeze-Chelsey...Between spiders, misc. animals, venomous platypuses, etc... doesn't seem like you have much in common (talk about 2 peas in a pod!) :lol:

 

[B-NASTY]

i have pc lights i think.....and ive done a water change about once a month.....and i do 15 gallons each time....

 

[Letmegrow]

Run carbon, I suggest Chemipure.

Raise your temp

What is your salinity ?

Double check salinity on someone elses refractometer.

How old are your bulbs ?
If they are at 9 months or close to, get new bulbs, they have expired.

 

[Reggae Fish]

You said you cut down the light cycle? What to?

I would recommend getting on a weekly water change of approx. 10%-12% including volume of sump if you have one

Your nitrates are at 0? I'm certainly not an expert but that seems like it wouldn't be correct with this problem...What kind of test kits are you using?

anyone out there, please correct me if any of my answers are incorrect as I'm fairly new as well...

Just seems as though with monthly water changes, brown algae, etc... that the nitrates may not be accurate...I could be wrong though...

What about carbon?

 

[Letmegrow]

If you do 20% water changes bi-weekly this will also dramitically improve your water conditions.

 

[Amy83820]

Check your phosphate!!

 

[Chelsey]

Phosphates will likely read zero if the algae is consuming all of it and using it to grow.

 

[Biggie]

What kind of water are you using? RO/DI or tap water? Hows your skimmer? What kind of filter are you using? Any build up of crud in your sump? Just somethings that have to be asked to get to the root.
Brown algae is feedingt off phosphates which are probabaly stored in your sand IMO. You have any power jets flowing to keep the detritus from settling in the sand? If not get some ASAP. Sand is its own filter but also can lead to toxic build ups of phosphates. Dont stri the sand when you vacuum too much it releases these toxins and sets off algae blooms. Some more input will help get the correct solution.