cross post

[Billy the kid]

First off, thank you all in advance.

I set my my 55g tru vu tank with corner overflow about a week ago. I've got 150lbs of south down aragonite as my DSB, 60lbs of uncured live rock, 5 lbs of cured live rock, a sump with an ETS skimmer, a small refugium with a couple of ounds of live sand and a couple of small pieces of uncured live rock, 4x55watt compact florescents, etc.

The tank has been running for about 5 days now, and I've noticed a brownish algae growing in the sand. In the morning, after the light has been off all night, the algae seems to diminish quite a bit (although it doesn't go away completely), but returns rather quickly after the lights come back on.

I've attached a pic of the "algae". If anyone knows what it might be, and how to cure it, please advise.

[Tenner]

BTK,

Just like the setup question you had, Algae is a large subject with many many options and variations. Here is the highlights as I know them, there may be other folks that can lend more expertise here.

Basics:
Oppertunistic algae grows from excess nutrients and light. Understanding this will guide you in it's control. Plus there are many natural animals that live on algae and will help keep it in check.

Your algae is either diatoms (probably from the water you used), or a cynobacter outbreak. Either way it's a normal cycle for a new tank.

If you used water from your tap, chances are that is where you are getting the algae from. Some snails/blue leg hermits/ and maybe an algae blenny or yellow tang can clear it up. Also, good filtration will help keep it in check. If it is too ugly, you can try and siphon it out. This is usually part of the normal cycle of a new saltwater tank.

The problems are really when algae starts to overtake corals, or impede your sand bed from proper filtration by smothering it. Most of us keep hair algae and slime algae down cause it's not very attractive.

Remember all tanks have algae it's just a matter of keeping it in check.

Remind me at our next meeting, I tell you about Inland Aquatics setup and algae they have, really amazing compared to how we keep our tanks.

Good luck
Matthew