Could please somebody tell me what kind of algae is this?

[Sakura2282]

Hi!

I bought two clownfish last Sunday and the next day I noticed all this brown spots on almost all my rocks. I have no idea what is this. Could please somebody tell me? I did my water change yesterday 10% my tank is one week old and my nitrites and ammonia are 0 and my nitrate close to 10ppm. And I use RO/DI water in my tank only.

Thanks is advance.

 

[jhnrb]

Your tank is not yet seasoned enough for adding fish. The algae is an indication that your bio load is larger than the tank can handle at this time. Cut back to bare bones feeding, add a small algae eater, i.e. maybe a half dozen snails (star type if you can find um) let your tank settle in for 2 to three months. do not add any more live stock until you have your algae under control. reduce your lighting during the breakin period. read the articles and other posts on the site. algae blooms are a part of the eco system starting the 1st stages of development, so, no uncommon for a closed system. go slow and adjust your system as needed to deal with the undesirable observations. You did not give particulars on substrate, filtration, etc. so my advice is very general at this point. I have been away for quite some time and only picked up your message as an exception. The star snails are one of the few that will eat brown algae.

 

[Sakura2282]

I will follow your advice because it's true that I added the fish to soon to the tank. For the filtration I have the dry live rock (pukani), and a emperor 400 with black diamond carbon, the tank is a 46 gallon Bow Front Tanks and the substrate is Arab Alive Fiji Pink Sand. I also have 1 power head of 1150.

I'm not sure if I should reduce the hours of lightning in the tank. Right now, I have the blue lights turning on at 9:00AM then the whites at 10:00AM and I have the lights off at 7:00PM the whites and at 8:00pm the blue ones. Maybe 9 hours of lightning is too much light now that I have this algae problem to deal with.

Every advice is very welcome.

 

[ccCapt]

That looks like diatoms. Perfectly normal to see that in a new setup. Give it time and they will burn away.

 

[chichimom79]

Your photo-period isn't excessive but you can cut it down a few hours if the algae continues to bloom. Diatoms are a normal process in new tanks and will burn themselves out with continued use of RO/DI water, a good clean up crew and good maintenance routines. Good luck with everything!