I can't figure this algae out

[mr11]

So my tank has been up and running since October. I have this persistent brown algae which kinda seems like diatoms or cyano. It's difficult to get a picture of but I gave it a shot. It covers all of my rocks to some degree. Corals like zoas have some small brown whispy algae on them which is the same stuff. I have to clean off the glass every 3 days. I'm running GFO. I can't figure out what it is. Should I have diatoms after it's been running for 6 months?

 

[Roboson]

Let's see if we can figure this out. Here are some questions that may help find the cause of the algae.

What livestock and coral is in the tank?

How much do you feed a day?

What kind of lights do you have?

How close are the lights to the surface?

 

[ndz98]

It looks like diatoms. It is possible to still get them. If it is diatoms it won't stay forever. Just make sure you are not over feeding and make sure you do frequent water changes. Lighting could also be an issue. I remember when I started I had a cheapo led that caused me to have a lot of algae. As soon as I switched to a much better lighting unit, my algae situation got so much better.

 

[mr11]

Cool, let's do it. 50 gallon tank.

Fish:
pair of <2" Occelaris
3" Melanurus
2.5" Flame Angel
2" McCosker's Wrasse

Inverts:
Emerald Crab
Halloween Hermit Crab
Cleaner and Peppermint Shrimp
Various Snails: Cerith, Dwarf Cerith, Nassarius. My Melanurus ate my Trochus...
10 small hemrits

Coral:
Frogspawn - 12 heads
Hammer - 3 heads
Acan mini colony
Zoas - Rasta, purple hornets, ked red
2" Chalice frag
Experimental acro

I only feed LRS reef frenzy once daily but probably a little too much by my estimation

Lights are reefbreeder photon 32's maxing at 50% blue 25% white. They come on at noon, run till 10 when the whites shut off and I run blues only at 15% until midnight. They are about 7" above the water.

 

[mr11]

You can see it better with lights off.

 

[john.m.cole3]

following bc I am going through something similar

 

[john.m.cole3]

Here's mine. A fb page thinks it's cyanobacteria or dinoflag

ellates

 

[mr11]

Yeah it looks like yours is producing bubbles. Makes me lean towards Cyano.

 

[john.m.cole3]

I agree with cyano. Been reading up on it lately and started reading this thread.
http://reef2reef.com/threads/back-at-it-peroxide-vrs-cyanobacteria.241002/page-6

 

[Duke4Life]

I agree with cyano. Been reading up on it lately and started reading this thread.
http://reef2reef.com/threads/back-at-it-peroxide-vrs-cyanobacteria.241002/page-6

This stuff is a nuisance.

 

[dbrewsky]

what is your source water for top off and fresh saltwater?

 

[mr11]

Yep mine doesn't produce bubbles so I don't think it's cyano. I use RODI water for top off and mixing salt water

 

[Bunnee911]

Can you "blow" them off your rocks with a turkey blaster?

 

[mr11]

I cannot blow it off. I've used a tooth brush which works in a very limited way. But it's tough to physically remove.

 

[SwerveCle]

Mine looks the same And it is stressing me out

 

[mr11]

Parameters if that helps anyone.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
PO4 0 (Changed out GFO a week ago)
Alk 9.5
Ca 430
Mg 1320
SG 1.025
T 79-81

 

[Duke4Life]

If you remove does it come right back fairly quickly?

 

[mr11]

It comes back in about 3 days on the glass. The rocks I've never successfully removed a large chunk of it but on the areas where I did get some off it seems slow to return. I recently added some new fake rock zoa mount/dome things and within 3-4 days of being in the tank they had a brown film on them.

 

[tyler_drogell18]

to much light. normally around 6 hours a day possibly 7

 

[mr11]

to much light. normally around 6 hours a day possibly 7

Do solid blues count towards light cycle time for algae?