brown hair like algae

[badiorg]

I have a 100 g tank with vho lighting berlin turbo skimmer and when I first set this up I had these floating silinity testers which were way off.My clowns were not active at all so I bought a new tester and it was at 1.040 did a partial change and it came down to 1.022,however 2 days after this my rocks and sand and glass are turning brown.is this normal for a new tank or was it caused by my silinity level nad change . pls help:( :(

[SeanT]

[welcome]
May I ask what type of water you are using?
Is it from the tap?
If so you may be experiencing algal or diatom blooms due to the level of phosphates that my be present in your tap water.
I would suggest purchasing an RODI unit (If you are not using one).

Also the skimmer that you are currently using is rather underpowered and inefficient (I owned one myself). I would upgrade to a beeter class.
Such as a Myreef, euroreef, lifereef etc.

HTH

[isildursbane]

Microalgae growth is a normal part of a new setup. I have a 90 with VHO, and I had a bloom when I first set mine up. One thing you could do is to set up a Macroalgae refugium say a 20 or 30 gallon somewhere. This really helps because the macroalgae removes the nutrients before the microalgae can use it to grow. I have a 20 gallon macro-refugium, and it has really improved the water quality of my tank and really reduced the microalgae growth.

Another key is to try not to overfeed your tank. Some people feed once a day. I personally feel this is too much, but many people disagree with me on this, and get upset when I say it. You have to just go with what you feel comfortable with. Also, you must have patience because when a problem like hair algae arises, it will not go away overnight. It takes diligence and patience to overcome.

Hope this helps

[rjrobert]

What's involved with a Macro-Refrugium?

[isildursbane]

A Macro Algae Refugium is a tank separate from a main tank which provides an environment for at the very least macro algae to grow. That is it, a tank with big algae "plants" growing. Refugiums usually provide safe "refuge" for a variety of other Fauna and Flora such as copepods, amphipods, and an uncountable number of other creatures that can grow in the sandbed and on live rock if included. There are many good posts on the message boards on this subject.

[DgenR8]

Originally posted by badiorg
I bought a new tester and it was at 1.040 did a partial change and it came down to 1.022,

That's HUGE!
I agree with the advice and recommendations offered so far, but to just gloss over that salinity change is a mistake.
Are there other animals in the tank with the clowns? Do you have live rock in there?
I won't go as far as to say that the salinity change fathered your algae bloom, but strongly recommend that you don't make changes in your system that fast and/or drastic.
This hobby is a test of our patience, and like it has been quoted so many times before, "NOTHING good happens fast in a Reef"

Depending on the age of the system, the algae could be perfectly normal.
Take things slow from here out, your tank will be happier for it.