Nasty Brown Algae

[fkdenton]

My tank is now covered in this nasty brown algae. How can I get rid of it. I know its part of my tank cycling but I dont like it. A guy at my lfs said nothing eats it.

 

[blooper74]

Increase water flow.

 

[fkdenton]

Its got pretty good water flow. It has a emperor 280 and a bak pak2 skimmer. As far as test go PH=8.2 amonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 20 specific gravity 1.022-1.023 temp 78

 

[smorrow5773]

Part of a new tank, will cycle through usually 2-3 weeks. Is it cyano(sheets of slime) or diatoms(dust).

 

[fkdenton]

I belive that it is diatoms

 

[smorrow5773]

I have never had diatoms last more than a week, they feed off silicates and will go away when source is used up. Always seems to happen in new setups, even when using rock, sand, water from existing tank?? I think the astrea snails have been known to eat it, but I don't use them because 1 turbo cleans as much as 5 astrea IMO. How old is this tank?

 

[blooper74]

I never had any trouble with it, but then I added sand to my system and bang, now I have some red dust. It happens, it will go away.

 

[fkdenton]

Its had live rock in it for 3 weeks now. This mainly started when i started keeping the lights on. At the moment I just have freshwater bulbs on it. I am ordering the tek t5 system monday

 

[DKKA]

Does the emperor have media or floss in it, or is it just for circulation?

 

[smorrow5773]

This is what I would do: Since you have 0 ammonia/nitrites, and high nitrates, I would reach in with an old toothbrush and brush away the diatoms from the rock, then vacuum your sand doing at least 25% water change. You want to get as much gunk out as possible because it will fuel your next wave of the cycle-cyano.

 

[brad23]

I had this problem in my 75g, it lasted about 3 weeks and went away. It was really bad at one point covered my sand bed.