Brown Algae

[maxwellwhothunk]

My tank (currently 1.5 weeks into cycling) has begun to bloom a brown algae over the glass, one of the two rio 1100's (the side without the protein skimmer) including the power cord for the powerhead. My tank is currently occupied by 5 Damsels, and 60 lbs of live sand. I have over 100 snails who are currently working 24 hours a day to control the problem. My girlfriend suggested I reduce the light cycle by at least an hour (it is at a 12 hour cycle right now).

What can I do to get rid of or at least slow the growth of this algae?

Diatoms like silicates a whole lot more than light. This is NORMAL. It doesn't normally happen in this short of time. Keep watching those Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate levels.

At the beginning, you're gonna get diatoms, cyanobacteria, microalgaes, etc. Your tank has to mature and there is no way around it.

Hopefully you started with RO/DI water as this will have a major impact on how long this initial break-in period lasts.

For the most part, you need to let the diatoms consume the silicates and then die. However, without corals there is no reason for such a long photoperiod.

[maxwellwhothunk]

I originaly filled the tank with tap water, however I am doing all water changes with RO filtered water. Just one question What is the "DI" of "RO/DI"? I live in milwaukee where tap water is very clean and free of many additives, so i figured that it would be alright to start with tap water and slowly get rid of it through regular water changes. I have now decreased the photoperiod to about 8 hours rather than the 12 I had it at. Thanks for your help. Also i assume unless it becomes a long term issue that I should hold off on brown/red algae removal products from Marine depot and other stores.

Thanks for your help!

[chode]

yea dont add any of that stuff. Just keep using the ro/di water and it should slowly start clearing away. since ur tank is only 1.5 weeks old the diatoms will take a while to dissapear because u havent been using the ro water verylong. I had the same problem but i did a big waterchange a the end of my cycle, about 50 % with ro water and it helped a whole lot. o and the di is deionized

[maxwellwhothunk]

Ok thanks!

The DI cartridge will remove Phosphates from your water supply. A lot of utilities are purposely adding phosphates to the water to keep their pipes cleaner. That is unfortunate for us because red and green algaes like Phosphates.

You can get a water report from your water utility to determine if you should add DI. Unfortunately, most of us need to use DI as well as RO.

[maxwellwhothunk]

Now if I help the red algae spread by brushing the spores would this end the algae phase faster? (but with the obvious side effect of a lot of algae for a while)

If you spread coralline algae spores around the tank, it will help you in the long run. However, your tank is new enough that you're gonna get some nasty algae no matter what you do....it's part of the maturation process.