Brown Algae Trouble

[discordja]

I've a 75 now up for 3 months. I stabilized the water parameters and things are mostly trouble free. I change 10 gallons a week.

 

Params:

Nitrate .5

Nitrite 0

Amo 0

Calc 380

Alk 9 dkh

SG 1.026

 

I changed old bulbs and licked my fits of Cyano and a green carpet/hair algae but now I've got a surge of brown carpet like algae growin all over the rocks, spreading rapidly, and making a real mess of things. Anyone have any ideas?

[F&Fmgr]

I've a 75 now up for 3 months. I stabilized the water parameters and things are mostly trouble free. I change 10 gallons a week.

 

Params:

Nitrate .5

Nitrite 0

Amo 0

Calc 380

Alk 9 dkh

SG 1.026

 

I changed old bulbs and licked my fits of Cyano and a green carpet/hair algae but now I've got a surge of brown carpet like algae growin all over the rocks, spreading rapidly, and making a real mess of things. Anyone have any ideas?

 

can you post a pic of it?

[discordja]

Not a great pic but hopefully enough to tell.

 

It looks a little red here but that is short brown algae like it's a layer of carpet over the rock.

 

So it's neither the ugly diatom or cyano. and it's growing like mad.

 

 

 

A bit easier to tell how it's growing in the little cracks and crevices and such

 

 

 

Took a test of the topoff water as well to be sure it's not adding extra nutrients to the tank as well. It's registering 0 nitrates and 1 on the total disolved solvents count. Also tested to make sure that I was right on the nitrates for the tank and it's around .2-.5 ppm atm

 

Any chance this can be managed with just some more algae grazers? I've not a ton of detrivores in the tank because of the barebottom and I tend to remove the waste before it has a chance to break down.

[steveoutlaw]

2 Questions:

1. Are you using RODI water?

2. Is your tank exposed to sunlight where it is?

[discordja]

Steve,

 

Yes on 1. I change about 10 gallons of RODI every week and top off with RODI a couple of times a week

 

No on 2. Probably as far away from a windows as it can possibly get.

 

I'm gonna spend the week with the lights off and a about 40 gallons of water changes .. and see what that does for me. Do any snails or hermits eat this stuff? Maybe larger turbo snails?

 

Everything is healthy and corals are really growing well so there are certainly worse things to have than a little bit of nuisance algae.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Have you tested for phosphates?

[discordja]

Ah I can finally respond to this. I finally got a test done for phosphates and i came back with a giant 0 ppm. So I'm at a real loss here. This algae is unstoppable and it's taking over lots of rock surface area and I have no idea how to stem the tide.

[steveoutlaw]

Steve - I'm fighting the same thing. I've been using a turkey baster to blow it off the rocks to the overflow can get it and send it to the skimmer. Problem is, it keeps coming back. I'm at a loss as well because my water params are great.

[Guest alex wlazlak]

my friend had stuff like that and he used some of the red sea redalgea remover stuff and it went away. i dont know if you want to use it but it should work. all of his stuff is okay and the algea gone. i think its a type of cyno.