My tank has been running for about 3 1/2 weeks now, its fully cycled and the parameters all seem to be in check. Today I noticed orange (algae?) all over the top of my live rock. It was not there yesterday, is it harmful? Im having trouble finding anything about it online, but its quite ugly! Any advice??
Orange algae on my LR???
- Thread starter TerribleJakes
- Start date
Sure it's not brown? Still, it could be brown. What are your nitrates? Brown algaes love nitrates and usually crop up in newish tanks before the green algae takes over.
Nitrates and silica are the main foods for brown. I have brown in my tank and I could not care less. It's not out of control and it soaks up bad stuff... I think nitrates but I know phosphates.
yea I have Nitrates... It's at 20ppm, I just came across "brown algae" in someone elses thread, that must be it. It looks orange/rust colored. Is there a way to get rid of it or will green algae take over eventually?>
Typical Diatoms, part of the cycle/new tank setup. It will probably get a lot worse before it starts to get better, but it is a natural part of a new tank setup and nothing to be concerned about. More flow or daily cleaning of the rocks with either a small pump/powerhead or turkey baster will probably help reduce it while you go through this phase of the tank cycle if you wanted to go through the hassle of doing that, but it really isn't needed. Cleaning the rocks during a water change is usually sufficient enough.