Brown Algae breakout curing LR......question

[Loren]

I have a 7lb piece of LR that I am curing in a 5 gal tank using a powerhead, heater, and PC lighting. Since I don't have a skimmer for this tank, I have done daily 50% water changes for 5 days. Water parameters look good as of yesterday(6th day). However, I noticed a major brown algae outbreak on most of the LR yesterday and today. I've been running the PC (combo actinic + 6700k daylight--28wx2)for approximately 10 hours per day.

Question: Is the brown algae a normal occurrence? Am I running the PC's too long? I have separate switches for the actinic and daylight. Should I run one longer or shorter then the other?

And finally, will the brown algae subside or is there something else I should do?

Thanks--Loren

[DougL]

Loren;

If you are talking about Brown Macro-algae, just harvest it every few days. If its diatoms, I would not even worry about it.
Its soon to be snail feed.

Just my two cents.

DougL

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http://sites.netscape.net/douglxyzzy

[Loren]

Dougl, thanks for the response. Originally, I would have said it was diatoms. How do I identify brown macro algae vs diatoms?

Will this algae (either type) inhibit the growth of coraline or other types of growth on the LR?

Thanks--Loren

[SJLord]

I am actually a little confused. I had been told that when you cure rock, you dont need to run a skimmer to begin with? wouldnt changing water daily inhibit the curing of the rock? I know that some people say that if you run the lights you can help with not having so much dieoff on the rock. Sorry, was just a bit confused about this process.

Steven

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Cant Afford it, Save up, youll need it!

[DougL]

Loren;
Macro algae look like land plants, with leaves, stems and roots. Of course, none of the parts are actually called that! :)

Sounds like you have a diatom bloom. I just would not sweat it. Diatoms can disappear overnight if they run out of nutrients.
IMHO, they will not kill anything during your curing, and they will be gone shortly after.

SJLord;
Several ways to do something. Water changes can be very good if you really don't care about maximum nitrification, but do
care about maximum bio-diversity. Sounds sensible to me.

Good Luck;

DougL

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