ID on this brown alge ?

[tech_reefer]

Hi, any idea what this is? It’s brown with bubbles on top. Tank been running for 3 weeks now.

 

[blaxsun]

Can you re-post some clearer images under white light?

 

[Kmst80]

I just see blue new rock. Considering the age of the tank my wild guess would be diatoms.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

First of all, clear your mind and imagine these photos were posted by a stranger. If you were looking at these would you be able to see anything but blue??

Second, a 3 week old tank likely is getting diatoms. You will have 3-6 months of different types of ugly algae to deal with until the tank finally starts to stabilize. Be patient.

 

[Kmst80]

Microscope is the only one that will tell you for sure what it is. Doesn't have to be an expensive one.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Scroll down past the nitrogen cycle stuff to "Intermission", and read about the algae cycle

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Microscope is the only one that will tell you for sure what it is. Doesn't have to be an expensive one.

No need for that since likely no intervention is necessary. Trying to get rid of early algae blooms (aside from possibly manual removal and cuc) is defeating the purpose and will just make the tank mature more slowly.

 

[Kmst80]

No need for that since likely no intervention is necessary. Trying to get rid of early algae blooms (aside from possibly manual removal and cuc) is defeating the purpose and will just make the tank mature more slowly.

Don't get me wrong I am all for algae and the cycle around it, I learned the hard way to stay away from chemicals by inducing a Dino bloom. It's just nice to know what that brown/red/mustard looking thing in your tank is.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Don't get me wrong I am all for algae and the cycle around it, I learned the hard way to stay away from chemicals by inducing a Dino bloom. It's just nice to know what that brown/red/mustard looking thing in your tank is.

Ehh... knowing isn't all it's cracked up to be. Looking back, when I started my tank (the first time) I had a pretty big dino problem, but didn't realize it. I thought it was cyano and just kept siphoning it out every few days... after about 4-5 weeks it went away. If I knew then what I know now I probably would have tried a bunch of unnecessary stuff and possibly made things worse.

 

[Kmst80]

Ehh... knowing isn't all it's cracked up to be. Looking back, when I started my tank (the first time) I had a pretty big dino problem, but didn't realize it. I thought it was cyano and just kept siphoning it out every few days... after about 4-5 weeks it went away. If I knew then what I know now I probably would have tried a bunch of unnecessary stuff and possibly made things worse.

I thought it was Cyano...and tried chemiclean to get rid of it. What a mistake. Probably killed all the good stuff rather than the bad. Lesson learned.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I thought it was Cyano...and tried chemiclean to get rid of it. What a mistake. Probably killed all the good stuff rather than the bad. Lesson learned.

I mean, in an established tank with lots of coral, an outbreak can do a lot of damage so I totally understand looking at other measure to combat it. But in a brand new tank, letting the different bacteria, archaea, and algae fight it out for a while can sometimes inoculate the tank from an outbreak later on. Certainly if you keep ALL algae out of the tank early on, then later it can go wild, lol.

 

[Debramb]

I mean, in an established tank with lots of coral, an outbreak can do a lot of damage so I totally understand looking at other measure to combat it. But in a brand new tank, letting the different bacteria, archaea, and algae fight it out for a while can sometimes inoculate the tank from an outbreak later on. Certainly if you keep ALL algae out of the tank early on, then later it can go wild, lol.

I really think big pod collection is the difference!!!! Our current tank is just getting over huge phosphate spike, whacked the ecosystem, algae problem, etc. I’m beefing up system w/new pods for live rock, sump and substrate before move to 125g from 100g. Been maintaining saltwater since the 80’s and we never had New Tank Syndrome.
Knock on Wood lol