Brown Hair Algae? Maybe...

[medi]

All right so my 12G JBJ NCDX has been running for about a month now. For about the past week I have had a thick layer of what appears to be brown hair algae that I cannot seem to get rid of, and no matter what I do it keeps coming back. My tanks parameters are perfect: Nitrate 0, Nitrite 0, Ammonia 0, Phosphate 0, PH, maybe a little high, 8.6, Calcium 480. Water temp maintains between 77 and 79. My lights come on at 9:30 and turn off at 7:45. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

- Calvin

[tmelhiser]

Actually, I suspect this is Cyanobacteria (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bluegralgae.htm)

I am battling an outbreak as well in a small system I have. I've had no luck to date getting it under control.

-Travis

[medi]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have been doing somewhat frequent 2 Gallon water changes hoping it would help clear it out, but I have had no luck. It has the texture of green hair algae, and you can't pull it off of the rock. I always thought if it was cyano you could usually pull it off of the rock, but it always came back. the only thing I am sure about is that I want it gone, and so far I am not having any luck. I talked to the LFS and they suggested trying Marine S.A.T., but I am always afraid to put unknown chemicals in my tank

[+mcallahan]

Looks like a diatom bloom to me...common for new tanks.

My 90g looks pretty much the same way. Uptime =3.5 weeks. Give it a couple of weeks, it will pass.

[GKarshens]

^ +1. You have to be patient with a new tank. These things will happen.

[medi]

aw yes patience...I need to work on that one

[caferacermike]

Your tank is probably just about to cycle. It seems way to early to have such an "established" tank with all that coral in such a short time. You can set up a tank in a day or so but only with experience and established sand, rock, critters, and filters. Also I'd really consider having your nitrates checked somewhere else as it's near impossible to get them down to "0". If your trates are honestly at 0 then you are probably about due to have a tank meltdown. Nitrates are the byproducts of an efficient and working filter. If your trites are high and trates are low then that would show a problem with the bioload being higher than the ability to process waste. Showing some trates and no trites proves that the final product has been through the cycle.

Looks like a diatom cycle to me. Very typical in the first 2-5 weeks.

[tmelhiser]

Are diatom's typically hair like? If you look at the shell in the sand just to the right of the snail, these things seem to have strands. I know that the stuff in my tank can grow long an wispy (Some have grown up to 5 inches).

-Travis

[medi]

Well I just added the coral the a couple of days ago. Until then all I had was two snails. The LR was from an established tank, and the sand was pre-seeded. I know that doesn't mean alot other than it will make the cycle start. I used two different Nitrate tests and they both appeared to be at zero according to the color chart. Travis you are correct all of the algae has a hair like texture. That is what initially made me question whether or not it was diatoms because I have never seen diatom algae with hair like texture.

[medi]

Good News!! After my lights turned on this morning I noticed that a lot of the area on the LR and LS affected by the algae appears to have cleared up. I am hoping this is a permanent thing and not just a big disappointment. Only time will tell. Thanks for all of the suggestions