Brown hair algae/diatoms/dinos....need help please!

chathaway417 · 02/02/2012, 06:30 PM

I have a 125 with a 3 part rubbermaid sump with live rock/sand, ecosystem mud fuge, and skimmer. RO/DI 6 Stage filtration for all water that goes into tank. Tank has been running and very stable for 2-3 years. Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate all are 0. In addition to the return pump, I also have 4 Koralia Evo 1050's for flow. I also have about 40 Nassarius snails, 50 Cerith snails, 30 Nerite snails, 20 blue leg hermits.

Changes I made in the last 2 weeks:

added 35 lbs dry rock (cleaned and boiled first) to fill in the edges of the tank

added a 216 Watt T5 light

ordered new bulbs for the existing PC light fixtures (bulbs are about 1 year old), have not come in yet

30% water changes every 1-2 weeks

Within a few days of adding the rock and new light, this stuff came along like crazy, on the rock it is light brown and stringy like a spider web and on the sand it is more light brown and yellow but more dusty than stringy. Around the base of some of the frags there is some that is more of a dark brown and spaghetti like. There is one rock that does have some small air bubbles attached to it but it is right under a powerhead that blew bubbles during a water change a few days ago. I turned off the PC lights with the old bulbs 2 days ago.
Since I have been running the old PC lights with no problems, I wouldn't think that it would just decide that "today is the day" and boom, there it is! Would adding the dry rock have triggered this, I just realized that the water I boiled the dry rock in was not RO/DI, it was my regular well water, but I let them air dry for 3 days before adding them to the tank, would that do it?
How do I get rid of the stuff? I am preparing an order for some livestock and I will be getting some white leg hermits, red leg hermits, and margarita snails, but I could get other cleaners/fish/livestock if needed. Please help!

DC650 · 11/15/2012, 09:27 AM

I have the same problem as well. Were you able to get rid of it?

mkbtank · 12/28/2012, 08:29 AM

How did you ever make out with this?

YoungREEFA · 12/28/2012, 08:46 AM

The dry rock you introduced needed to he bathed in muratic acid as it releasea phosphates for some time, it will run its course

02/02/2012, 06:30 PM	#1
chathaway417 Registered Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 23	Brown hair algae/diatoms/dinos....need help please! I have a 125 with a 3 part rubbermaid sump with live rock/sand, ecosystem mud fuge, and skimmer. RO/DI 6 Stage filtration for all water that goes into tank. Tank has been running and very stable for 2-3 years. Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate all are 0. In addition to the return pump, I also have 4 Koralia Evo 1050's for flow. I also have about 40 Nassarius snails, 50 Cerith snails, 30 Nerite snails, 20 blue leg hermits. Changes I made in the last 2 weeks: added 35 lbs dry rock (cleaned and boiled first) to fill in the edges of the tank added a 216 Watt T5 light ordered new bulbs for the existing PC light fixtures (bulbs are about 1 year old), have not come in yet 30% water changes every 1-2 weeks Within a few days of adding the rock and new light, this stuff came along like crazy, on the rock it is light brown and stringy like a spider web and on the sand it is more light brown and yellow but more dusty than stringy. Around the base of some of the frags there is some that is more of a dark brown and spaghetti like. There is one rock that does have some small air bubbles attached to it but it is right under a powerhead that blew bubbles during a water change a few days ago. I turned off the PC lights with the old bulbs 2 days ago. Since I have been running the old PC lights with no problems, I wouldn't think that it would just decide that "today is the day" and boom, there it is! Would adding the dry rock have triggered this, I just realized that the water I boiled the dry rock in was not RO/DI, it was my regular well water, but I let them air dry for 3 days before adding them to the tank, would that do it? How do I get rid of the stuff? I am preparing an order for some livestock and I will be getting some white leg hermits, red leg hermits, and margarita snails, but I could get other cleaners/fish/livestock if needed. Please help!

11/15/2012, 09:27 AM	#2
DC650 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Daly City Posts: 127	I have the same problem as well. Were you able to get rid of it?

12/28/2012, 08:29 AM	#3
mkbtank Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: NE Philadelphia Posts: 1,164	How did you ever make out with this?

12/28/2012, 08:46 AM	#4
YoungREEFA Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 895	The dry rock you introduced needed to he bathed in muratic acid as it releasea phosphates for some time, it will run its course