Brown algae is out of control! what to do?

[MrNoahCount]

Hi again guys,

I f you've read any of my previous post , you know my tank is 4 weeks into cycle and I have two shrimp in it. Also, about a week ago I changed from a garden variety 20 watt flourescent hood to a Coralife aqualights 2 x65 watt 50/50 dayight and actnic hood.

Brown algae is going crazy! it's on the substrate, the LR and starting on the glass to the tank as well. Can I use a scaper and get it off the sides at least without causing any harm? Will it eventually disappear on it's own? I just want to be cautious about what I do because I don't want to mess up the cycle. I can almost see this stuff growing! There is a diiference between last night and this afternoon in the amount. I've been having my lights on about 12 hours a day. Is this too long?

Thanks,

Michael

[Aware]

8 hours max, unless you really like algae that is!

[Orange Crush]

i ran mine for 12, prolly cause i was too lazy to eventually increase the cycle. the brown algae is diatoms, which will for the most part go away on their own with time, but of course you can scrape the glass. it's good practice for the months ahead when you actually want to see into your tank

[dickwayne]

Its a natural part of a reef tank cycle. The diatoms are feeding off the high nitrates. Brushing it off will cause it to multiply. Just leave it alone and it will starve itself out. Dont' worry about your light cycle. Do a search on diatoms and you will find that almost everybody has experienced it.

[Toooloud]

Agreed.. Its all part of the cycle, You are best to leave your lights off while cycling the tank, Maybe have them on for a couple of hours aday, But the idea is to let the algaes in the tank eat up the nutirents that your live rock is causing.. with the lights on they are feeding off the lights so it will take longer..