What is this brown stuff........??

[jahdisp25]

Tanks been up an running for about a month now and i notice this brown substance forming on my sand bed, I think it may be diatoms or maybe brown algae I'm not sure?

My main question is what the heck can I do before it gets out of hand?? What kind of clean up critters or chemical additive should I add? As of now I got 2 turbo snails.

 

[Bifferwine]

It sounds like diatoms, and there really isn't anything you can do about it. Since your tank is new, diatoms are normal. New tanks will go through a diatom phase. They will die off on their own eventually and as your tank matures, you will get outbreaks less and less frequently.

In the meantime, you should get some nassarius snails to help stir the sand up.

 

[dcantucson]

Sand sifting stars, and Gobies can help some.

 

[Gdbyrd]

Sand sifting stars, and Gobies can help some.

I'd stay with the gobies but avoid the sand sifting stars. I think they don't do well in our tanks and usually starve(if memory serves). But they do a hell of a job stirring things up.

How's the flow in your tank?

 

[Gigaah]

My Gobi does a good job..kind of. I have a 55G tank and he keeps his 1/4" end of the tank clean. Hes a blue dot gobi. Snails would be a good addition to a gobi.