Anyone know what i can do about this brown algae growing on my live sand?My tank is new and cycled,so far i have a couple little hermits,1 blue knuckle hermit crab,1 emerald crab and 1 fire shrimp as my clean up crew.They're not taking care of that brown algae.What can i add to my crew that'll take care of that brown algae?I dont trust turbo snails because of my rock work.What about tropical margaritas?I just need something to keep my live sand spotlesss.I dont like vaccuming sand,its really messy.My tank is 37 u.s. gallons.Also,whatever you suggest for me,for instance if they were snails.Would i be able to put it directly in my tank or should i quarantine it?I read some articles on fish diseases but they didnt say anything about invertebrates carrying diseases.Thanks
brown algae
- Thread starter BlueGill85
- Start date
How old is your tank? It could just be diatoms, which isn't all that bad unless you have corals. It can overwhelm corals, but in a FOWLR it is just ugly. The best way to kill it is to A) stop overfeeding your critters and B)a blackout. Im not even sure if there are any critters that will eat it. Can you post a pic to help me ID it? It could be the dreaded Dino, which will overwhelm your entire tank and is much harder to kill off then diatoms. Also, you can post this in the general saltwater section, you would get more responses that way.
My tank has been running since august 15.As you can see in the pics i posted,its growing on my live sand,on my rocks,and at the bottom part of my glass.It just looks dirty to me.I was thinking that their was a snail that eats all that brown stuff.The last time i tested for phosphates,i got a 0.25 ppm reading.I use RO water
it's diatoms, and will go away eventually.
diatoms are very common on new setups, both fresh and saltwater.
what is your lighting (wattage and duration)? you might be giving the tank too much light, resulting in diatoms.
i would quarantine any new fish or critters that you want to add to your tank. inverts can carry diseases and parasites even though they may not fall victim to them.
diatoms are very common on new setups, both fresh and saltwater.
what is your lighting (wattage and duration)? you might be giving the tank too much light, resulting in diatoms.
i would quarantine any new fish or critters that you want to add to your tank. inverts can carry diseases and parasites even though they may not fall victim to them.
I agree with BettaFishMommy. If the diatoms bother you to see, just clean it up. as the tank matures, the diatoms will go away.
if you have only the rock and the clean up crew then i would reduce your lighting to see if that helps matters any. try for maybe 6 to 8 hours a day instead of 12 hours? 12 hours seems like a long time and your bulbs seem like a lot of light for a basic FOWLR tank.
I think diatom appear more in dimmer tank and should disappear with time when other algae dominate.
Google sand shifting gobys (diamond goby) which will assist with algae on the sand.
If possible, check for NO3/PO4/silicate.
Google sand shifting gobys (diamond goby) which will assist with algae on the sand.
If possible, check for NO3/PO4/silicate.
With corals in the tank I run my daylights for about 8 hours. The actinic come on an hour before and go off an hour after.
