Brown slime / hair algae help

[Noobreefer90]

I’m guessing since my new tank has only been setup maybe half month or so.  I got a brown slime / hair algae outbreak on my rocks and sand. What will eat this will turbo snails touch this

[Josh989]

First you need to figure out what is causing this outbreak. If your tank is cycled, then you need to look at your nitrate and phosphate levels. If these are not at an appropriate range, do water changes. If they are at a suitable level for the reef, then you need to test your source water for silicates as that is a prime feeder for brown algae. A clean up crew won’t completely rid your issue here. Yes, they will help by cleaning off some patches, but the main cause is in the water and you need to address the root cause first after which you may google clean up crew members for a reef aquarium. You will find details about each member and what you should choose. 

 

Josh

[Clown79]

Looks like cyano or dinos.

 

The cause needs to be found and corrected. Manual removal with siphoning, additional waterchanges, and more flow will help reduce it.

[Brianr24]

Josh makes some good points. The one thing I would add is you can get a zero nitrate reading with all that algae in there so I wouldnt pay much attention to it. 

When I first started in this hobby ( I’m still no expert) I hated when I asked advice and the answer was water changes. But you know what? They work! I would say 99 percent of my issues are solved with water changes. Best thing I’ve heard in the hobby 

“ the solution to pollution is dilution “

it would definitely help to find the source of the problem. In my experience tho you don’t always find a definitive source. Good luck