I am now getting a brown stringy algae on my rock and sand. My LFS says not to worry it will pass followed by a green algae that will also pass. He said it is all part of the tank cycling. My tank is 2 months old and has stable parameters. I did discover that my API tests for Alk showed 8.0. I purchased a Hanna kit and it showed 6.6. Took a sample of water to LFS to be tested and they also showed 6.6 with a Hanna tester. I guess the API kit is reading high. I treated the water and brought the DT up to 8.4. None of this appears to have affected the algae growth however. Does anyone know how long the brown stuff will last? I am using a AI Prime HD with mostly blue spectrum at 90% and green, red and white at 15% for 5 hours a day peak and both ramp up and down 2hours each. Below is a picture of the algae