Brown alge

[Richards Aquarium]

My tank is 26 days new I understand that brow alge is part of the process and it feeds off of nitrates mine are at 10ppm. I'm seeing brow algebra under the light only. I've been running my light now about 6 hours a day since adding my clowns on the 15th. I've read that not supplying enough light hours can promote brown alge. I'm just curious is why am I only seeing it under the light ? I now it will spread. I also have sand what do you use to clean the sand with. I don't want to use a sifen that I have for gravel I see how much sand I can lose ? Thanks in advance. The pictures don't show the alge it's just starting. Just want to show the light I've been running its on setting #1 and it goes up to 100.

 

[Nate Chalk]

A gravel vac python I think is what most people would recommend. I like stirring and letting my overflow that it through mechanical filtration

 

[Richards Aquarium]

Do you just stir lightly. How often do you stir and at what point do you clean out the filter pad ?I don't have a sump my one canester fluval 307 is attached to overflow and my Top Fin pro series 120 is attached traditionally the intake is about three quarters the way down the tank. What I noticed when I first set up tank the sand took quit awhile to settle and it accumulated in my filter floss and then eventually let lose back into the tank which made the tank look very cloudy I just don't want to see that happen again.

 

[Nate Chalk]

I don't have sand in my display, but my sand in the sump I stir. It gets cloudy and I have high flow and good mechanical filtration that takes out all the cloudy stuff in about 15 minutes. Then I just change the filter or rather clean them