vanessa Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 I just set up my 18 gal via aqua tank and it's been running for about a week now...all I have in it is 2 pieces of LR and 2" LS. Today I woke up and found the tank overgrown with algea!!! I've been running the lights for about 10 hours/day 72 Watts. I bought some snails and crabs today and hope this is all I need to get rid of the brown algea. Anything else I can do to keep the growth down? Thanks. Link to comment
DeskJockey Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 Its cycling so just let it run its course. Do a few WC's over the next week or 2 with RODI or distilled and cut back the lights to 3 or 5hrs (I normally leave them off for the first week or so). It will take some time. In the mean time do the above and test your water. You wont know whats going on if you dont test. If your ammonia levels are very high those snails might not make it. Personally I let the algae grow like crazy for two weeks then I add the snails. The algae exhausts its energy and cant grow back as fast but by then the snails can keep up with it. Link to comment
reefan Posted February 22, 2003 Share Posted February 22, 2003 My spelling sucks, but for your info algae Link to comment
vanessa Posted February 22, 2003 Author Share Posted February 22, 2003 sorry-ALGAE not algea...sometimes when you type a word and it looks weird but then you type it the other way and it still doesn't look right so you end up leaving it the way you first spelled it and find out later that it was spelled wrong to begin with...makes me feel stupid. :| Link to comment
reefriot Posted February 22, 2003 Share Posted February 22, 2003 dito on what deskjocky said. you should make sure the water you use is as free from phosphate as possible as this will feed the brown diatoms and can take alot longer to subside. any brown or green algae growing in the tank is actually benifical to your system as long as its not hair algae. you can also pick up a bit of culerpa to compete against the diatoms. alot of reefers will just give it away if you pay the shipping. my best advice when setting up a new tank,PATIENCE let nature take its course. enjoy your new tank, 18gals are fun Link to comment
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