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Author Topic: 8 weeks in, cycle complete, brown algae bloom...!!!...  (Read 1886 times)

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Offline Shep

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8 weeks in, cycle complete, brown algae bloom...!!!...
« on: August 15, 2012, 10:48:00 »
I am now 8 - 10 weeks in and my cycle is complete...lost a couple clowns but now everything is settled down and I have 2 green chromis that eat like pigs and are very active and seemingly happy...water tests great, no ammonia or nitrites, nitrates run about 20 ppm...problem now is a brown/orange algae that is beginning to cover my rocks, shells and 3d foam background walls...when I used to keep tanks years ago I would remove all the rocks and dead corals, siphon the substrate and rub down the walls every month as part of my water changes so I would begin to see this coming, but then I would head it off...I would like to leave the rocks and shells I have in the tank now but my tank is quickly becoming orange/brown... :(

after some research I believe it is diatoms and I have read everything from

1.) I need to turn the light off for two weeks and do a 50% water change with RO water and/or using algae killing chemicals

to

2.) it is natural and the only thing I need to do is wait as they will run a course and die off on their own

my tank is a 54 gallon corner with a wet/dry filter...a Quiet One 2200 pump which pumps about 450 GPH at 4' of head although it isn't running wide open...

any thoughts on wether this a natural part of the process which will clear up on its own or if I have a significant problem? and if I do how best to deal with it will be greatly appreciated...

thanx,
Shep

Offline Neogenesis

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Re: 8 weeks in, cycle complete, brown algae bloom...!!!...
« Reply #1 on: August 15, 2012, 12:45:31 »
This is normal, all new tanks see this.  Heck, i even had a outbreak in my 2 year old tank, but that was due to phosphates being leached into the tank.   Anyway, nitrates will only help fuel the algae growth.  You need to keep up, even increase the size and frequency of your water changes to get your nitrate as low as possible.  Keep everything else in the tank running normal and they will go away.   You may also want to look at running a refugium as another way to help export nitrate.

As a general rule of thumb, I don't ever rely on chemicals to fix problems in my tank, other than buffers or drips that may be needed to maintain levels.  Using chemicals to kill algae, just seems like a bad idea to me.  Fix what's causing them and they will go away on their own.

Offline lazylivin

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Re: 8 weeks in, cycle complete, brown algae bloom...!!!...
« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2012, 13:02:45 »
Great advice, nothing to add except reaffirmation that it normally runs its course with good maintainence.

Offline Steve

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Re: 8 weeks in, cycle complete, brown algae bloom...!!!...
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2012, 15:31:47 »
Clean up crew? Not sure if you have any snails or hermits, maybe something to consider.

Offline Shep

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Re: 8 weeks in, cycle complete, brown algae bloom...!!!...
« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2012, 15:59:31 »
that's about what I was hoping to hear...I'll do a big water change this weekend and maybe add a small cleanup drew...

thanx fella's  :be happy:

Offline Shep

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Re: 8 weeks in, cycle complete, brown algae bloom...!!!...
« Reply #5 on: September 03, 2012, 10:37:41 »
just for future reference or to satisfy curiosity, the diatom algae bloom had completely covered my walls, substrate and rocks...did not change my light cycle, didn't add any chemicals and I didn't change my feeding routine...did a couple of 5 gallon water changes a week apart and two weeks ago I added two turbo grazers...they had it under control in a week...now, about three weeks after it began, you would never know it hapened :be happy:



I hope I can support the two turbo's because they certainly won't be eating like they did the first week or so...



again, thanks for all the help  :)

Offline lazylivin

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Re: 8 weeks in, cycle complete, brown algae bloom...!!!...
« Reply #6 on: September 03, 2012, 13:10:32 »
Good glad it all cleared up. :)

Offline Boonjob

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Re: 8 weeks in, cycle complete, brown algae bloom...!!!...
« Reply #7 on: September 05, 2012, 16:54:33 »
Really glad you stuck to your guns Shep, Most people panick and start ripping the tank apart or changing things... it will all go away on it's own.
God is great, Beer is good, and People are crazy...

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