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brown algae
- Thread starter rgarofalo
- Start date
What you are describing is called Diatoms. It is a normal part of a new tank. Leave it be and it will go away on it's own in a couple weeks.
harryk said:
6 months is a bit too much, specialy for hardy Euphyllia sp that do not require that much pristine water. Couple of months is sufficient if your water parameters stabilize.
Since you already have the corals in there with what looks like diatoms (could also be cyano) you'll want to do a couple of things.
Get a turkey blaster and keep the corals clean by lightly blowing water over them with the blaster. Same with the rocks. Do this daily.
Get some type of phosphate/silica remover like Rowaphos, Phosban or similar and run this in a reactor or nicely wedged in a filter to make sure water passes through it. This will help reduce the diatom growth but not completely remove it since the diatoms are quite efficient and will be able pull silica out of the water before the media can absorb it.
What you are experiencing is completely normal and part of the start up cycle. Heck Diatoms are always present even in established tanks and are vital to the tank. But in an established tank they are very limited in comparison to what you have right now. Once they serve their purpose they will die off in numbers but you'll commonly see them rebound especially if you have high silica numbers.
Another helpful suggestion is to increase the flow in the tank with some additional powerheads (or readjusting what you have). Judging by the way it's settling/growing on the rocks shows the in tank current is low.
Get a turkey blaster and keep the corals clean by lightly blowing water over them with the blaster. Same with the rocks. Do this daily.
Get some type of phosphate/silica remover like Rowaphos, Phosban or similar and run this in a reactor or nicely wedged in a filter to make sure water passes through it. This will help reduce the diatom growth but not completely remove it since the diatoms are quite efficient and will be able pull silica out of the water before the media can absorb it.
What you are experiencing is completely normal and part of the start up cycle. Heck Diatoms are always present even in established tanks and are vital to the tank. But in an established tank they are very limited in comparison to what you have right now. Once they serve their purpose they will die off in numbers but you'll commonly see them rebound especially if you have high silica numbers.
Another helpful suggestion is to increase the flow in the tank with some additional powerheads (or readjusting what you have). Judging by the way it's settling/growing on the rocks shows the in tank current is low.
That subject (powerhead placement) depends on lots of factors and like religion items in here, it eveokes lots of opinions, some louder than others. :-X
Let me give a simple suggestion that almost everyone agrees with as a good starting point. If you have a power head in each back corner and point it to the front center glass, the intersection of the 2 powerheads makes random water movement that bounces all over the tank. Many times it bounces back to the rocks that then further distort it and clean debris.
Again, this is a starting point only.
Let me give a simple suggestion that almost everyone agrees with as a good starting point. If you have a power head in each back corner and point it to the front center glass, the intersection of the 2 powerheads makes random water movement that bounces all over the tank. Many times it bounces back to the rocks that then further distort it and clean debris.
Again, this is a starting point only.
Every tank with it's rock work and type of corals is a little different so it's hard to generalize. Phil probably just gave you the best advice you'll get for getting started.
If you notice debris settling on the sand or rock in any place in the tank it's a safe bet to assume the current isn't strong enough there and you might need to move a powerhead or add another one.
It's probably more trial and error then anything else really.
Carlo
If you notice debris settling on the sand or rock in any place in the tank it's a safe bet to assume the current isn't strong enough there and you might need to move a powerhead or add another one.
It's probably more trial and error then anything else really.
Carlo