Brown Hair Like Algae- Diatoms, Dinoflaggelates, or ???

LakeGirl · 05/11/2009, 11:09 AM

New tank, 6 weeks & cycled, fired up the lights and bam! This stuff is taking over fast. It looks like brown hair. Growing everywhere, especially in high flow areas. No bubbles on tips.

Using RO/DI water, Power Skimmer, Changing 5% water weekly...

Gave the tank a good scrub Friday night, had significant re-growth on Sat. Scrubbed again on Sunday, and..... its back!

Sorry for the poor photo quality. Probably should have grabbed the tripod and a macro lense would really help. One hobby investment at a time! LOL.

Admittedly, I don't have the lights on a timer yet, and may have simply been running them too long. I think Sat's exposure was over 12 hours.... So, they were on for less than 6 hours yesterday, and I was thinking about going dark for 3 days.

My only inhibitants so far are the beginning line up for the CUC: 6 small hermit crabs, 6 cerith cnails, one turbo snail (I think), and two tiny baby brittle stars. So, if I go dark, no big deal?

I had planned on easing into a CUC, so as not to "overstaff" without ample feed.... however, getting nervous. Considering adding an emerald crab right away, maybe lawnmower blenny too.

What is this stuff? Suggestions for management?

Michael · 05/11/2009, 11:18 AM

i cant see anything in those photos at all, however as the tank is new its probably diatoms, whatever it is it should clear if you keep the tank clean and keep changing the water regually with pure water

LakeGirl · 05/11/2009, 02:14 PM

Anyone else?

Michael · 05/11/2009, 02:23 PM

you wont get many replies with those photos lake girl

sunsetSPS · 05/11/2009, 04:40 PM

reduce light period. It will last a few weeks. Just add more CUC. Mexican turbo snails are best to clean up these. You may notice the green will soon replaced by light brown algae and then gone.

aquamanSD · 05/11/2009, 04:52 PM

Ya with a tank that new its normal. It will correct itself. If you have sand it probably has some silicates in it to produce the diatoms and it will grow until it consumes it all and then it will die off with nothing left to feed on. I'm actually going through the same thing right now with a little 20 gallon frag tank i set up about 3 weeks ago. Nothing in it but a few frags and new sand and its all brown. Just let it run its course

LakeGirl · 05/21/2009, 02:33 PM

Update for everyone. Went dark for a few days. Instead of removing water from the display tank, changed water directly from the sump. Fully cleaned out the sump- all those sponges and polishing filters.... what the heck was all the dark brown stuff? Ewww.

Here's an interesting piece of advice. Guy at the LFS suggested adding 40 serpant stars to the sump. What a terror that would be! A bunch of creepy crawling guys sliming all over me during routine maintenance. No thanks. Yes, he said 40. Apparently, he has 40 in his sump and hasn't had to use a mag-float in his tank for 7 years.

Added a couple emerald crabs and large turbo snails....

BTW- got some of those "Mexican Turbos"... one of the inverts reference says to beware of these.. not necessarily tropical??? LFS says they've used them successfully for years in reef tanks. Hmmm. I'm keeping an eye on them. Chaulk it up to yet another conflicting piece of information to ponder. They are good eaters, very active, and seem healthy for now.

The brown hairy stuff is gone and my new inverts are happy! Glad we went conservative with CUC additions, otherwise, we'd have some hungry tenants!

iFisch · 05/21/2009, 05:18 PM

API AlgaeFix Marine will fix that for sure.

Did for me.

LakeGirl · 06/12/2009, 02:37 PM

Brief update for everyone. The bloom calmed down. I'm very glad I was conservative in beefing up the CUC. Tank is now relatively clean. Still some stuff growing, but it is well under control. Maybe its my imagination, but looks like we've got some nice coralline coming on.

CUC is acting kind of hungry. I'm adding small amounts of dried seaweed and/or squash 2x week now to make sure the CUC doesn't starve. When food is added, it seems that all inhabitants immediately go after it-- with conviction. The emarlad crabs actually chased the serpent star away from some food. I may increase feeding frequency, but am holding out as my protein skimmer is currently "on hiatus" (that's another story.)

The 125 now hosts:
* 125 lbs live rock
* 6 blue or white legged hermit crabs
* 5 Mexican turbo snails
* 1 small turbo snail
* 6 cerith snails
* 2 emerald crabs
* 1 five-inch serpent starfish

There is a lot of conflicting information and advice available relative to what to stock for a new system CUC. Thought I would share my results for anyone else who may be dealing with a similar situation. I thought I had a massive bloom underway. Changed the water within normal parameters (5-10% per week), but also cleaned out the sump... and then slightly beefed up the CUC.

And, problem is gone, and now have a healthy, but hungry CUC. I'm not concerned that I added too many animals, simply glad I went conservative.

Latest addition: Last night, I added my first coral frags! Went for a couple of small colonies of green star polyps and one zooanthid. Woo-hoo!

05/11/2009, 11:09 AM	#1
LakeGirl Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Twin Cities Posts: 108	Brown Hair Like Algae- Diatoms, Dinoflaggelates, or ??? New tank, 6 weeks & cycled, fired up the lights and bam! This stuff is taking over fast. It looks like brown hair. Growing everywhere, especially in high flow areas. No bubbles on tips. Using RO/DI water, Power Skimmer, Changing 5% water weekly... Gave the tank a good scrub Friday night, had significant re-growth on Sat. Scrubbed again on Sunday, and..... its back! Sorry for the poor photo quality. Probably should have grabbed the tripod and a macro lense would really help. One hobby investment at a time! LOL. Admittedly, I don't have the lights on a timer yet, and may have simply been running them too long. I think Sat's exposure was over 12 hours.... So, they were on for less than 6 hours yesterday, and I was thinking about going dark for 3 days. My only inhibitants so far are the beginning line up for the CUC: 6 small hermit crabs, 6 cerith cnails, one turbo snail (I think), and two tiny baby brittle stars. So, if I go dark, no big deal? I had planned on easing into a CUC, so as not to "overstaff" without ample feed.... however, getting nervous. Considering adding an emerald crab right away, maybe lawnmower blenny too. What is this stuff? Suggestions for management?

05/11/2009, 11:18 AM	#2
Michael NTTH Rookie Help Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Gloucester, England,UK Posts: 7,808 Blog Entries: 6	i cant see anything in those photos at all, however as the tank is new its probably diatoms, whatever it is it should clear if you keep the tank clean and keep changing the water regually with pure water __________________ Don't be afraid to ask questions, we in the new to the hobby are here to help you [For My Tank Spec,Photo Album,Articles and website, click on my name] MY Very Kindest and Warmest Regards , MIKE Current Tank Info: I have a 92 gal Corner Tank, and way too many pieces of equipment to list really, (proud member of the reef central corner club)

05/11/2009, 02:23 PM	#4
Michael NTTH Rookie Help Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Gloucester, England,UK Posts: 7,808 Blog Entries: 6	you wont get many replies with those photos lake girl __________________ Don't be afraid to ask questions, we in the new to the hobby are here to help you [For My Tank Spec,Photo Album,Articles and website, click on my name] MY Very Kindest and Warmest Regards , MIKE Current Tank Info: I have a 92 gal Corner Tank, and way too many pieces of equipment to list really, (proud member of the reef central corner club)

05/11/2009, 04:52 PM	#6
aquamanSD Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: South Dakota Posts: 168	Ya with a tank that new its normal. It will correct itself. If you have sand it probably has some silicates in it to produce the diatoms and it will grow until it consumes it all and then it will die off with nothing left to feed on. I'm actually going through the same thing right now with a little 20 gallon frag tank i set up about 3 weeks ago. Nothing in it but a few frags and new sand and its all brown. Just let it run its course __________________ Kevin Current Tank Info: 380 Gallon, 240 sump, 4x400 MH, vho actinics, MRC Skimmer, 1/2hp chiller, Tunze's

05/11/2009, 02:14 PM	#3
LakeGirl Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Twin Cities Posts: 108	Anyone else?

05/11/2009, 04:40 PM	#5
sunsetSPS Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 355	reduce light period. It will last a few weeks. Just add more CUC. Mexican turbo snails are best to clean up these. You may notice the green will soon replaced by light brown algae and then gone.

05/21/2009, 02:33 PM	#7
LakeGirl Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Twin Cities Posts: 108	Update for everyone. Went dark for a few days. Instead of removing water from the display tank, changed water directly from the sump. Fully cleaned out the sump- all those sponges and polishing filters.... what the heck was all the dark brown stuff? Ewww. Here's an interesting piece of advice. Guy at the LFS suggested adding 40 serpant stars to the sump. What a terror that would be! A bunch of creepy crawling guys sliming all over me during routine maintenance. No thanks. Yes, he said 40. Apparently, he has 40 in his sump and hasn't had to use a mag-float in his tank for 7 years. Added a couple emerald crabs and large turbo snails.... BTW- got some of those "Mexican Turbos"... one of the inverts reference says to beware of these.. not necessarily tropical??? LFS says they've used them successfully for years in reef tanks. Hmmm. I'm keeping an eye on them. Chaulk it up to yet another conflicting piece of information to ponder. They are good eaters, very active, and seem healthy for now. The brown hairy stuff is gone and my new inverts are happy! Glad we went conservative with CUC additions, otherwise, we'd have some hungry tenants!

05/21/2009, 05:18 PM	#8
iFisch Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: FL Posts: 3,068	API AlgaeFix Marine will fix that for sure. Did for me.

06/12/2009, 02:37 PM	#9
LakeGirl Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Twin Cities Posts: 108	Brief update for everyone. The bloom calmed down. I'm very glad I was conservative in beefing up the CUC. Tank is now relatively clean. Still some stuff growing, but it is well under control. Maybe its my imagination, but looks like we've got some nice coralline coming on. CUC is acting kind of hungry. I'm adding small amounts of dried seaweed and/or squash 2x week now to make sure the CUC doesn't starve. When food is added, it seems that all inhabitants immediately go after it-- with conviction. The emarlad crabs actually chased the serpent star away from some food. I may increase feeding frequency, but am holding out as my protein skimmer is currently "on hiatus" (that's another story.) The 125 now hosts: * 125 lbs live rock * 6 blue or white legged hermit crabs * 5 Mexican turbo snails * 1 small turbo snail * 6 cerith snails * 2 emerald crabs * 1 five-inch serpent starfish There is a lot of conflicting information and advice available relative to what to stock for a new system CUC. Thought I would share my results for anyone else who may be dealing with a similar situation. I thought I had a massive bloom underway. Changed the water within normal parameters (5-10% per week), but also cleaned out the sump... and then slightly beefed up the CUC. And, problem is gone, and now have a healthy, but hungry CUC. I'm not concerned that I added too many animals, simply glad I went conservative. Latest addition: Last night, I added my first coral frags! Went for a couple of small colonies of green star polyps and one zooanthid. Woo-hoo!