brown fuzzy algae growth

lossman · 04/07/2006, 01:49 PM

Our 150g reef tank is just over a year old. We have suddenly started having this brown fuzzy algae growth on the rocks and even on the snail shells. Nothing has changed other than we just upgraded our powerheads in the tank to increase the flow. What could be causing this and what can we do to eliminate it?

Jeremy Blaze · 04/07/2006, 01:53 PM

How long has the tank been running? How old are the lights? What are your water parameters?

Paul79936 · 04/07/2006, 01:55 PM

A better skimmer, refugium, phosphate removers, more water changes.

lossman · 04/07/2006, 01:59 PM

Tank has been running since January of last year. Lights are less than 6 months old. Parameters are as follows:

Nitrites, Nitrates, Ammonia, Phosphate - zero
Sg - 1.026
Alk - 4.23
pH - 8.4
Temp - 77

All parameters have been stable for a long time. We run carbon and phosban. We drip Kalk in our top off water. We have made no new livestock additions for a while now. As previously stated, the only thing that has changed was more flow. I do see a large turbo at the back of the tank that is dead but there is no way to remove it and I will assume the cleanup crew will take care of his carcass as time goes on. I can't think that a dead snail (even tho a large one) would cause this large brown algae bloom.

Thanks

lossman · 04/07/2006, 02:01 PM

We have a refugium (have since the beginning), water changes are regular every other week and have been since initial parameters stabalized. Since the skimmer has been doing an adequate job so far, can't see that this sudden algae bloom would be caused by inadequate skimming, otherwise it would have appeared sooner.

Jeremy Blaze · 04/07/2006, 02:02 PM

Could you get a pic of this algae?

lossman · 04/07/2006, 02:27 PM

The picture is a little fuzzy but here you can see the brown algae on the shell of this bivalve. The color is a little off and makes the algae appear green, it is definitely brown. This is on a lot of the rocks in the tank. There is no brown algae on the sandbed, just on the rocks, the powerheads, snail shells.

Jeremy Blaze · 04/07/2006, 02:31 PM

Are you using RO water? How are you using the phosban, and how old is it?

lossman · 04/07/2006, 02:40 PM

We use only RO water. The phosban is about 3 - 4 weeks old. We are using a phosban reactor. Will be changing it out this weekend. We have only had the phosban reactor for about a month and did not have this algae problem prior to getting the reactor. We have a very minor green hair algae problem that I was hoping the reactor would take care of, but so far, the green hair algae is still there (still in the same spots as it has been for months), not spreading but not receding. Our lfs recommended starting out with only 1/2 the recommended phosban so as not to stress our corals, which we did. This weekend we will be cleaning the reactor and adding a full dose of the phosban.

Jeremy Blaze · 04/07/2006, 02:41 PM

I would check for silicates in your ro water.

lossman · 04/07/2006, 02:46 PM

I'll check, but the membranes are only about a month old. All initial tests of the water after putting in the new membranes were negative. Silicates in the tank were 0.05 two weeks ago

lossman · 04/09/2006, 05:10 PM

Any other suggestions? Any ideas for cleanup crew additions that would help with this?

lossman · 04/11/2006, 02:17 PM

The brown fuz is spreading and getting thicker. Anyone have any experience with this stuff? Any ideas to help control it? Any help at all??

Jeremy Blaze · 04/11/2006, 02:55 PM

According to sprungs book, this algae is a sign of nitrates.

lossman · 04/11/2006, 03:08 PM

Odd....nitrates are and have been for many months, undetectable. No ammonia, no nitrites, no nitrates, no silicates, no phosphates (just checked all of those today). The brown fuzz seems to be most prevelant in the areas that have the green hair algae. Divide our tank lengthwise into four sections and it is mainly in the second to the right quarter. Not much elsewhere and very little green hair algae elsewhere. This one section seems to be growing the most algae. The flow in this one quarter is identical to the flow in the second middle quarter. We have a modified maxijet blowing across the tank on either side, one higher and one lower than the other (we alternate this flow every few days to make sure all areas have good flow). We have two maxijets with hydor heads at the back of the tank pointing to the front on alternating currents. This keeps the surface agitated as well as creates turbulence in the center of the tank. At the back of the tank we have a spray bar that blows water down behind the rockwork. So, basically, all areas get great flow. Just this one area seems to grow the most algae and right now is looking really crappy. The brown fuzz, coincidentally, seems to have started when we had the maxijets modified to give them more power. The fish and other inverts seem to love the additional flow....so does the algae!!!

I'm planning to go out tomorrow and pick up a couple dozen trochus snails and a couple dozen hermits. This weekend will pick up a blennie to see if any of the above helps. I'm at my wits end and even though my dh thinks I am over reacting, I don't think so. I have seen how this brown fuzz is rapidly spreading and growing and I can invision it taking over our tank and creating a swamp instead of a beautiful reef.

Gooli · 05/03/2006, 04:17 PM

i'm getting the same thing..my tank is 1 year old - did u manage to take care of the problem?

lossman · 05/03/2006, 04:59 PM

Yes, we did. Picked up a bunch of big zebra snails and three small urchins. Blew off the top of the sandbed every other day, changed filter bags every day and changed out the sandbed in the refugium. Either all of the above or time took care of it.

THANK GOODNESS! I was seriously getting concerned about this. At one year of age I had assumed we had gone through all the algae cycles we were going to go through. Guess a larger tank takes that much longer to go through all of the various cycles.

Gooli · 05/03/2006, 05:08 PM

which urchins were they? never heard of "zebra" snails - got a link? photo?

lossman · 05/03/2006, 05:58 PM

Zebra striped turbo snails. Go to google.com, click on "images" and type in zebra snails. You will see the picture of the snails there. The urchins were common carribbean black spiney urchins.

lossman · 05/03/2006, 06:01 PM

BTW, these snails are PIGS!! But be warned, should you decide to order some by mail, they can be HUGE! We hand picked ours and they are about the size of large marbles. Some people have ordered them through the mail and gotten golf ball to baseball sized snails.

HowardW · 05/03/2006, 06:28 PM

Glad you got a handle on your algae outbreak. I was guessing that large dead decaying snail probably released nutrients into the water that fueled the algae bloom perhaps, it doesn't need much.

I would keep an eye on those urchins.

Gooli · 05/03/2006, 08:30 PM

thanks for all the feedback

04/07/2006, 01:49 PM	#1
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	brown fuzzy algae growth Our 150g reef tank is just over a year old. We have suddenly started having this brown fuzzy algae growth on the rocks and even on the snail shells. Nothing has changed other than we just upgraded our powerheads in the tank to increase the flow. What could be causing this and what can we do to eliminate it? __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

04/07/2006, 01:53 PM	#2
Jeremy Blaze Former Reef Addict Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Washington, IN Posts: 5,864	How long has the tank been running? How old are the lights? What are your water parameters? __________________ Trust me my friend, the names are not important at all. I've own hundreds of different zoas and palys and don't know the name of a single one. In my opinion, they are a waste of valuable time. Mucho Reef

04/07/2006, 01:59 PM	#4
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	Tank has been running since January of last year. Lights are less than 6 months old. Parameters are as follows: Nitrites, Nitrates, Ammonia, Phosphate - zero Sg - 1.026 Alk - 4.23 pH - 8.4 Temp - 77 All parameters have been stable for a long time. We run carbon and phosban. We drip Kalk in our top off water. We have made no new livestock additions for a while now. As previously stated, the only thing that has changed was more flow. I do see a large turbo at the back of the tank that is dead but there is no way to remove it and I will assume the cleanup crew will take care of his carcass as time goes on. I can't think that a dead snail (even tho a large one) would cause this large brown algae bloom. Thanks __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

04/07/2006, 02:01 PM	#5
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	We have a refugium (have since the beginning), water changes are regular every other week and have been since initial parameters stabalized. Since the skimmer has been doing an adequate job so far, can't see that this sudden algae bloom would be caused by inadequate skimming, otherwise it would have appeared sooner. __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

04/07/2006, 02:02 PM	#6
Jeremy Blaze Former Reef Addict Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Washington, IN Posts: 5,864	Could you get a pic of this algae? __________________ Trust me my friend, the names are not important at all. I've own hundreds of different zoas and palys and don't know the name of a single one. In my opinion, they are a waste of valuable time. Mucho Reef

04/07/2006, 01:55 PM	#3
Paul79936 Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Brevard FL Posts: 536	A better skimmer, refugium, phosphate removers, more water changes.

04/07/2006, 02:27 PM	#7
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	The picture is a little fuzzy but here you can see the brown algae on the shell of this bivalve. The color is a little off and makes the algae appear green, it is definitely brown. This is on a lot of the rocks in the tank. There is no brown algae on the sandbed, just on the rocks, the powerheads, snail shells. __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

04/07/2006, 02:31 PM	#8
Jeremy Blaze Former Reef Addict Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Washington, IN Posts: 5,864	Are you using RO water? How are you using the phosban, and how old is it? __________________ Trust me my friend, the names are not important at all. I've own hundreds of different zoas and palys and don't know the name of a single one. In my opinion, they are a waste of valuable time. Mucho Reef

04/07/2006, 02:40 PM	#9
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	We use only RO water. The phosban is about 3 - 4 weeks old. We are using a phosban reactor. Will be changing it out this weekend. We have only had the phosban reactor for about a month and did not have this algae problem prior to getting the reactor. We have a very minor green hair algae problem that I was hoping the reactor would take care of, but so far, the green hair algae is still there (still in the same spots as it has been for months), not spreading but not receding. Our lfs recommended starting out with only 1/2 the recommended phosban so as not to stress our corals, which we did. This weekend we will be cleaning the reactor and adding a full dose of the phosban. __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

04/07/2006, 02:41 PM	#10
Jeremy Blaze Former Reef Addict Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Washington, IN Posts: 5,864	I would check for silicates in your ro water. __________________ Trust me my friend, the names are not important at all. I've own hundreds of different zoas and palys and don't know the name of a single one. In my opinion, they are a waste of valuable time. Mucho Reef

04/07/2006, 02:46 PM	#11
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	I'll check, but the membranes are only about a month old. All initial tests of the water after putting in the new membranes were negative. Silicates in the tank were 0.05 two weeks ago __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

04/09/2006, 05:10 PM	#12
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	Any other suggestions? Any ideas for cleanup crew additions that would help with this? __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

04/11/2006, 02:17 PM	#13
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	The brown fuz is spreading and getting thicker. Anyone have any experience with this stuff? Any ideas to help control it? Any help at all?? __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

04/11/2006, 02:55 PM	#14
Jeremy Blaze Former Reef Addict Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Washington, IN Posts: 5,864	According to sprungs book, this algae is a sign of nitrates. __________________ Trust me my friend, the names are not important at all. I've own hundreds of different zoas and palys and don't know the name of a single one. In my opinion, they are a waste of valuable time. Mucho Reef

04/11/2006, 03:08 PM	#15
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	Odd....nitrates are and have been for many months, undetectable. No ammonia, no nitrites, no nitrates, no silicates, no phosphates (just checked all of those today). The brown fuzz seems to be most prevelant in the areas that have the green hair algae. Divide our tank lengthwise into four sections and it is mainly in the second to the right quarter. Not much elsewhere and very little green hair algae elsewhere. This one section seems to be growing the most algae. The flow in this one quarter is identical to the flow in the second middle quarter. We have a modified maxijet blowing across the tank on either side, one higher and one lower than the other (we alternate this flow every few days to make sure all areas have good flow). We have two maxijets with hydor heads at the back of the tank pointing to the front on alternating currents. This keeps the surface agitated as well as creates turbulence in the center of the tank. At the back of the tank we have a spray bar that blows water down behind the rockwork. So, basically, all areas get great flow. Just this one area seems to grow the most algae and right now is looking really crappy. The brown fuzz, coincidentally, seems to have started when we had the maxijets modified to give them more power. The fish and other inverts seem to love the additional flow....so does the algae!!! I'm planning to go out tomorrow and pick up a couple dozen trochus snails and a couple dozen hermits. This weekend will pick up a blennie to see if any of the above helps. I'm at my wits end and even though my dh thinks I am over reacting, I don't think so. I have seen how this brown fuzz is rapidly spreading and growing and I can invision it taking over our tank and creating a swamp instead of a beautiful reef. __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

05/03/2006, 04:17 PM	#16
Gooli Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: West Los Angeles Posts: 3,746	i'm getting the same thing..my tank is 1 year old - did u manage to take care of the problem? __________________ "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. " - Benjamin Franklin Current Tank Info: 180g SPS

05/03/2006, 04:59 PM	#17
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	Yes, we did. Picked up a bunch of big zebra snails and three small urchins. Blew off the top of the sandbed every other day, changed filter bags every day and changed out the sandbed in the refugium. Either all of the above or time took care of it. THANK GOODNESS! I was seriously getting concerned about this. At one year of age I had assumed we had gone through all the algae cycles we were going to go through. Guess a larger tank takes that much longer to go through all of the various cycles. __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

05/03/2006, 05:08 PM	#18
Gooli Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: West Los Angeles Posts: 3,746	which urchins were they? never heard of "zebra" snails - got a link? photo? __________________ "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. " - Benjamin Franklin Current Tank Info: 180g SPS

05/03/2006, 05:58 PM	#19
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	Zebra striped turbo snails. Go to google.com, click on "images" and type in zebra snails. You will see the picture of the snails there. The urchins were common carribbean black spiney urchins. __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

05/03/2006, 06:01 PM	#20
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	BTW, these snails are PIGS!! But be warned, should you decide to order some by mail, they can be HUGE! We hand picked ours and they are about the size of large marbles. Some people have ordered them through the mail and gotten golf ball to baseball sized snails. __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

05/03/2006, 06:28 PM	#21
HowardW Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Aurora, IL Posts: 1,763	Glad you got a handle on your algae outbreak. I was guessing that large dead decaying snail probably released nutrients into the water that fueled the algae bloom perhaps, it doesn't need much. I would keep an eye on those urchins. __________________ Florida live rock addict

05/03/2006, 08:30 PM	#22
Gooli Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: West Los Angeles Posts: 3,746	thanks for all the feedback __________________ "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. " - Benjamin Franklin Current Tank Info: 180g SPS