Help! Algae outbreak!

[Tokeisch]

Came home today and this brownish algae stuff is everywhere. Tank just finish its cycle recently....Just bought new led lights Saturday and now this. What do I do to get rid of it? It's not terribly bad, just want to get ahead of it before it gets bad.

Oh, and I moved a rock around yesterday. Can that cause it?

[Clown79]

If its a golden dusting its diatoms. To be 100% we need a pic.

 

Most ppl experience diatoms within the first while of starting a tank. There isn't much you can do to get rid of it. They mostly feed off silicates and once the food source is exhausted it goes away.

 

You can vacuum the sand during water changes, this will help but it will come back, but vacuuming also prevents detritus trapping in the sand and leading to other algae outbreaks.

Have you done a water change yet and tested nitrates?

[DrJared]

Most likely diatom bloom. 100% normal for new tanks, it will pass in 7-10 days most likely depending on water parameters. Diatoms feed off phosphate and silic. Your tank will most likely go through different algae and possibly bacterial blooms in its early stages. Good luck

 

Post pics!

[Tokeisch]

 

[Tokeisch]

 

Here are some better pics. Had to adjust the lighting. Is this normal, if not what do i do to fix it?

 

 

 

 

[ReefSafeSolutions]

Look like diatoms to me...I just finished up that phase of my tank. Time is your friend here...and a water change couldn't hurt, if your nitrates and phosphates are kinda high. You can manually clean up the glass with a scraper or toothbrush or whatever you normally clean your glass with, but eventually they'll go away.

 

Towards the end of mine, I started getting some funky hair algae, so I got some turbo snails and they've mowed right through it. The rocks are now starting to get brown, green, and purple coralline algae. So give it some time and if it gets too out of high, do some manual cleanup.

[Tokeisch]

Thanks! I was starting to get worried. Glad to hear it's a normal phase. Thanks for such a quick response.

[Clown79]

Definitely diatoms.

 

Unfortunately, they go away on their own.

 

In the mean time, test your nitrates and phosphates. Do your first after cycle waterchange. Re-test. Once your nitrates are in an acceptable level 10 or under, you can add a few snails nd hermits.

 

A good maintenance routine for waterchanges is using turkey baster on your rocks, scrape glass, then vacuum your sand.

 

If you use a bag of carbon, rinse it when you do waterchanges and replace monthly.

 

Clean filters 1x a mnth if you use an hob.

 

Change filter floss 2-3 times a week.

 

Feed lightly

 

This will help keep nutrient levels down and prevent the big bad algaes.