Brown/rusty stuff on rocks

Altohombre

Altohombre

The Tennis Pro Reefer
Not sure what Aptasia is or Cyano really, but I have seen this on some peoples rocks before. I have been using Purple Up for about 2 weeks and using my new T5 lights for about a day or so less than that. My canister filter had a piece broken so that has not been used in the last 5 days. I have been starting to get some nice purple showing up, but then today BAM! (like Emeril) I have this brown/rust colored stuff on most of my rocks. I don't like it and I want it to go away. What is it and what do I need to do?

I use only RO and RO/DI water.
my params are pH 8.2, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, and Nitrate 15 (checked by LFS today).
 
Can you take a picture? You say rusty which could be cyano but your tank is too new for that...i think its your first sign of brown algae. That usually comes first, then green then cyano.

Welcome to our world and good luck. So far you have experienced all the beauty & fun part of tanks, now its time you experience the pain and suffering involved with tanks :mrgreen:
 
what can I do to get rid of this problem. Is it because of my lights? I thought algae happens mostly because of people using tap water instead of RO.
 
It's diatoms. And there's nothing you can do about it.

For real. It's a normal part of having a new tank. You'll get diatom outbreaks now and then. They'll seem to show up overnight, and they'll disappear just as easily. As your tank matures it'll happen less and less frequently, but there isn't anything you can do about it except have some cleaner crew to keep the sandbed stirred up, like nassarius snails.
 
the thing is that it isn't in my sand bed at all. Maybe because I am having powerhead difficulties that keep blowing my sand in big dune piles no matter which way I position them.
 
good point. I actually took a toothbrush and rubbed some of it off. Hopefully that sends it to my filter and doesn't help it multiply more.
 
Alto..... Had It Happen Twice To Me Already.. It Was There For About A Week Then Completely Gone. Good Luck Pal .
 
ALto,
I am in my 2nd go around with this stuff. First time, I left the shade up on the window closest to the tank,. When I came home that night, WOW! brown everywhere, rocks & sand. i pulled the shade down and left the lights off for a day or so and it went 95% away.
Since I got my T-5's it has been a slow growing problem. I have adjusted the timers on the white lights down and it has stopped advancing. I think maybe we just don't need the T-5 white lights burning all day. I am at 8 hours white now and the actinic's at 9. My brown stuf, if it's algae, seems to like my live sand bed alot.
I have 2 questions for the pros in the group: what is an acceptable lighting period( I have 3 soft corals ) and how many Nassarrius snails or what else would you reccommend to keep the breaded brown in check?
 
Depends on what kind of nassarius snails you get. I have some that are the size of golf balls. About half a dozen of those would be fine for your tank. I also have some that are the size of peas. You could get 30 or so of those guys.

Soft corals don't require a lot of light. If you want to minimize your photoperiod, 6 hours should be fine for those guys. I keep my lights on around 12 hours a day, which is standard.
 
thank you, Bifferwine. I have 4 nasarrius about the size of nickels, I'll get more. also do you leave your blues on as much or at the same time as your whites? And do you know if the the blues contribute to the brown growth?

:bowdown:
 
the expert I talk to a lot told me that there is a silicate remover that I can use, but that after that I need something to rid of phosphates so that other algaes that don't live on silicate don't take over.

Also, I use Purple Up because it works. Within a week of using it I am getting purple on my rocks and the bleached/dyed off coralline from before.
 

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