brown algae

[hannah9932]

i need help...what happened to make my nice clean tank become filled with brown algae overnite???? any advice would be greatly appreciated. also, what do i do to get rid of it??? thanks

[AttackDonut]

How long has the tank been set up? How is it set up? What are the water parameters? Have you changed anything recently?

[astrogazer]

Is it real thick, slimy algae? If you water parms are have the water checked for phosphates. 20-25% water changes should help bring them down.

[BigDaddy]

Sounds like a diatom bloom, normal if the tank has just finished cycling.

[hannah9932]

thanks for the replies everyone...my tank has been set up for 6 months now and I have not added anything new lately. i have a reverse underwater filter in my 125g. i had this problem before when it finished cycling but that was awhile ago, now its like over night i have this nasty brown algae. its not thick, it just covers the walls almost instantly. i did a little water change, about 15% but it did not seem to faze it at all. what else can i do??

[astrogazer]

Again, I would have the water tested for phosphates. Just my 2 cents.

[hannah9932]

i will have my tank tested for phosphates and let you know....thanks a lot

[pr4mncplus]

What size Protein Skimmer are you using and is it working properly?

[hannah9932]

pr4mncplus: right now my skimmer is not up and running, my husband is suppoed to get it running today.

[BigBird]

It might be dinoflagellates.

Are any of your snails or hermit crabs dying?

[hannah9932]

nothing is dieing, just a pain to have a tank full of brown algae

[astrogazer]

How were the phosphates Hannah?

[pr4mncplus]

Well, that will help immensly once you get your Protein Skimmer up and running. Without it you are allowing fish waste and leftover food to create an ammonia base without any help from the skimmer. Remember that the main purpose of skimming is to remove organic matter from the water before it decays. Organic matter that has not been removed will break down to ammonia- nitrite and nitrates. Organic matter, also referred to as dissolved organic carbon (DOC), are carbon based compounds that occur as part of the metabolical processes and by oxygen consuming bacteria (i.e. the beneficial bacteria). Some algae are also known to create some DOC’s as part of their normal biological function. Without your skimmer running you should see an immediate increase in problematic algae and your most likely recourse is to keep your PH's on max, cutting back on your lighting period, and making water changes often IMHO. Vacuuming up the algea will help to some degree.