diatom bloom/Critter package

[pufferfish68]

I have a 92g corner and it's fully cycled. I'm using marco rocks (dead rock) and i added some live rock on top of it. I'm starting to get a diatom bloom now. Brown algae all over the place. I reduced the lighting to only actinics for 6 hrs/day and I only feed every other day now. No corals in the tank, just a few fish. I'm running a protein skimmer and black diamond carbon. I've done a 15 percent water change as well.

Am I doing the right thing so far?

Also, where is a good place to go for a critter package?

[PhilOlsen]

It can take a few months to be really "fully" cycled, the brown algae will go away on its own over time, but there are factors that may also contribute, are you using RO/DI water? How long has the tank been set up?

[pufferfish68]

tank was started about 7 weeks ago. i'm using AWI rodi and my tds meter shows zero. I have in the tank 3 green chromis, coral banded shrimp and a maroon clown.

any ideas on a critter package

[PhilOlsen]

OK, I have had it take 3 months to colpletely finish the brown algae stage, at about 10 weeks red slime has also occured, a few weeks after that both the brown and red went away on their own. As for clean up crews, I buy mine from several LFS and it is cheaper than online kits. I use a mix of black turbo snails, mexican turbo snails, nassarious snails, cerith snails and asterea snails, I also have a couple seahares as well which get rotated between several tanks. I have 0 crabs, even though many people have them without issues, I have lost many snails and even a royal gramma to those evil little creatures.

[Mr James]

I just bought some snails/crabs from Phishy Business. LiveAquaria has good prices too. But I would listen to the advice above. Snails and crabs may not solve the problem, even though they are good to have.

[pufferfish68]

What combination of critters would you recommend for a 92g corner?

anything i can do to speed up the process with the algae bloom?

[Mr James]

Are you running a DSB or bare-bottom??

[TangLove]

I dont think brown algae is a bad thing to have, its just not appealing. It does show your tank is on the right track if its due to the cycle. As for speeding up the process you want to be careful about overstocking it with the snails and hermits (if you decide to use them). Because once all that algae is gone they will eventually starve. But then again if you buy from a lps you may be able to return them and get some store credit.

I used the nassarius snails, cerith, and med. size turbos. Just after a couple of days they have done quite a bit with my tank.

Good Luck!