brown algae bloom in new tank

[RaddReef]

75 gallon, week four, 1 inch LS, 70lb cured LR, skimmer, no sump no fuge,

2 snails 1 hermit one sand sifter added week 2 , (no aomnia spike)

2 damsels addded week 3, 2 baby clowns 3- 1/2 weeks,

Now sand and LR and glass has ugly brown Algae growth,

was using tap water salt and circ in pail one week prior to adding or top off. Getting (RO/DI) told Vancouver BC only needs to let chloring escape - but will get RO ?DI to be safe.

Temp 76-77
ph 8.0-8.1
dKH 6-9

throughtout calcium 360
no phos kit.

how do i best get rid of the brown algae?
yes I'm probably overfeeding(3x/day), but thought the live rock and sand and skimmer can handle it.

Do I need phosban?

Newbie help please



RaddReef

[sps1-2-b]

Is the algae powdery? If so, then it's diatoms and will go away.

[RaddReef]

I wouldn't say its powdery, but maybe, its not hairy, ans its not in sheets

[Flipper62]

Sounds like the first stage of a cycle......diatoms ......
It will go away. Also during you next water change, you should puff off all the rocks with a turkey baster & get the crap floating in the water.....THEN suck it up with your syphon & get it out. On my first tank it took a week or two to go away. After that on other tanks, I did the puffing with the turkey baster & it was gone in 2 days.

[VacavilleFC3S]

HOLY CRAP you obviously did ZERO research before starting this tank

take the clowns and damsels back tomorrow , the damsels will most likely kill the baby clowns soon anyway. Damsels are EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE. spend $40-50 on clean up crew. you need almost 1 clean up crew member for every gallon of water your tank is so needs roughly 60-75 members. without them yes your tank is going to get very ugly and fast, they are what cleans your tank not the filter.

your sand bed is not deep enough it needs to be atleast 2-3" deep at the very least.

also STOP OVERFEEDING. it's not healthy for the fish, no your rock and sand have nothing to do with it. it's actually just fueling your algae growth

your not using RO water from the start?? thats only going to fuel the algae even more.

also why are you testing alkalinity and calcium and pH now?? you won't need those for 3-4 months right now you need to be testing for ammonia nitrites and nitrates.


this almost has to be a joke. if not you've done everything completely wrong and should really do some research before you waste hundreds of dollars.

and to answer your 1 question don't even think about phosban until you fix these other things

[Flipper62]

Originally posted by VacavilleFC3S
HOLY CRAP you obviously did ZERO research before starting this tank

take the clowns and damsels back tomorrow , the damsels will most likely kill the baby clowns soon anyway. Damsels are EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE. spend $40-50 on clean up crew. you need almost 1 clean up crew member for every gallon of water your tank is so needs roughly 60-75 members. without them yes your tank is going to get very ugly and fast, they are what cleans your tank not the filter.

your sand bed is not deep enough it needs to be atleast 2-3" deep at the very least.

also STOP OVERFEEDING. it's not healthy for the fish, no your rock and sand have nothing to do with it. it's actually just fueling your algae growth

your not using RO water from the start?? thats only going to fuel the algae even more.

also why are you testing alkalinity and calcium and pH now?? you won't need those for 3-4 months right now you need to be testing for ammonia nitrites and nitrates.


this almost has to be a joke. if not you've done everything completely wrong and should really do some research before you waste hundreds of dollars.

VacavilleFC3S...........FIRST................DECAF...DECAF...DECAF

A few ok points as in research...........BUT as far as a crash.......With all that caffeine......you might crash, before his tank does.

Slow down.....

[singold]

Probably should only feed once a day, and no more than the fish can eat within 2 minutes. Tap water introduces more phosphates to water, not to mention other unwanted elements. Your brown algae is temporary, but given your current practices you will undoubtedly have green algae issues down road along with nitrate level issues. A good beginner saltwater aquarium book would be prudent giving a concise methodolgy to saltwater aquarium basics.

[Michael]

yes, unfortunately a few mistakes made at this early stage, as mentioned above you have "new tank syndrome" the brown stuff will eventually go as its part of the thing that all new tanks go through, i do agree with some of vacavilles points, however do not agree with the amount of cuc needed, its personal opinion on that, however i found a dozen crabs and a dozen snails is all i need to maintain my 90, so just increase as you need them, as for the damsels, they do create a lot of noise from the guys on here, they have experienced them before, i have not, however they probably will terrorise other tank mates and if you want other fish in the long run it may be a good idea to get rid of them

[RaddReef]

Thank You, everyone, this certainly is a opinionated group.

i didn't think adding 70 herbs at this stage was good, because i thought there would not be enough food in tank for them all yet.

News on damsels is distressing. hard to get them out now, guys at LFS assured me these were tame blue damsels and not aggressive, they seem to be leaving the baby clowns alone for now.
hope you are all wrong and that they don't go psycho on me as they get older.

I read "The Reef Aquarium. Science, Art and Technology by Delbeek and Sprung" vol 3. They certainly seem authoratative to a newbie,

but their advise seems contrary to much of what is on this cite, (I', not talking how fast I started, or using tap water -hey its Vancouver ,

Can someone who has read this book, and have lots of experience give me their opinion as to whether or not this book is or is not considered good in the Reef community?

Thanks all the comments appreciated (including vaca's

[supercon71]

Wow, a LFS "assuring" that they were non-agressive blue damsels! Maybe he managed to get ahold of a new "kindler and gentler" strain of the blue devils

Now, the blue-green chromis is related to the damsels and is far less agressive....quite a peaceful little reef fish (as far as damsel's go), but they are easily distinguished from a blue damsel.

There are always exceptions to every rule, so good luck!

[cdness]

I have a damsel in my 75 that was used as a first fish to make sure I was ready for more fish. Of course this was after the cycle was finished and all params read 0. I think I added it right after the diatom craze...

I have two baby clowns in there as well now and the damsel hangs out with them. I have never seen it be agressive to either one of the clowns or any other CUC members. It just tends to eat some of the algae off the rocks and the food when I drop it in.

Diatoms are fun but wait till the green crap comes... Add more CUC members. ReefCleaners.org has great prices and ships to your door with a live guarantee.

[tapwater]

RaddReef I have two damsels a domino and a black and white striped along with a tomato clown and they get along fine.My 55 gallon has been up for a year now. I use RO/DI water and I still get that Brown haze on my glass.I have turbo snails.nassserius snails,two sand sifting stars,a brittle star,hermit crabs,and a banded shrimp as a clean up crew and Still get the brown stuff.I know exactly what you are talking about because I am new to this hobby to.Do you have a protein skimmer? I know you don't have a sump/refugium neither do I.Maybe thats why I still get that brown hazey film on my glass a year later.Who knows there so many opinions here good ones to but I think a good beginner book is the way to go.I need to get one myself.But by far this is the best site I have found on the hobby.

Lou