Brown diatom algae cure??
 

Hello all . I was at the pet store today and I was asking about a cure for brown diatom algae (which is turnning into a slime algae). they told me to use this stuff called Erythromycin has anyone else use this stuff before and if so what was your results . They say it is reef safe But before I use it I would like to hear from all the reef geeks out there :lol: The bottom ofour tank is turnning brown really fast and i am starting to get concern about it . Thank you for your imput folks :D

Andy, it will kill cyanobacteria and other good bacteria in the tank. It won't fix what is causing the problem and the cyano will be back in a week or so. It also won't kill diatoms. If you do a search on RC, you'll find thousands of threads on how to deal with this problem.

Brown algae, and red slime are just a function of a new tank. Both will go away when conditions for their prolification no longer exist. You can sit and worry, or wait. Conches like to eat it, and if you really can't wait or get a conch, there is a product called Chemiclean that works very well on slime algae, and is reef safe. I have used it, and have never had adverse effects.

If your tank is a new setup-not to worry, as brown diatoms are part of your cycle. I would stay away from any antibiotics in a reef tank :!: Instead use bottom cleaners such as hermits, a few types of snails, cowries, and conches will clean up the stuff naturally :D A bottom dwelling fish such as a goby for example are also good, as they stir up and clean your live sandbed.

Goodluck and Happy Reefing
cheers, Rich

Thank you
 

Thank you for your replys I will check out RC And leave the stuff alone for now . I do have a sandsifting star fish.he does move the sand around abit . thanks again for the imput guys :D

One really bad thing about using antibiotics is that you will end up with resistant strains of algae. Make sure your water is filtered as diatoms live off of silicates, and give it a bit of time.

I just picked up the Sprung book on algae and I tell you there is alot of good information. Does your brown diatom slime have bubbles? if so you may have another problem all together. If you don't have the Sprung book I highly recommend it, J&L sells it for a song.

Yes my brown algae does have bubbles quite a few of them . They break away and raise to the surface all the time . some are large and some small .

Like I said to your wife in PM it sounds like dinoflagellates, the sprung book says let it run its course, try to limit nutrients including silicates. Hope it works out well for you, btw, I am battling a Ick problem in my tank so at least you are not alone in the struggles.

If it's any comfort, I'm having the same problem now :cry: After the bubbles appear, the sand bead starts to turn black, and hair algae and slim algae seem to grow. My brittle star has helped keep it under control and I think the better water circulation has helped also. I agree with the others, and am going to get some more hermit crabs and sand sifters.
BTW, has anyone ever had bumble bee snails.? I saw them on JL's website...they look neat, and seem to be good sand cleaners.

Michael

[quote="Michael_newbie"]I have about 8 of them. They are scavengers and aren't algae eaters. Often I see them come out of the rocks to feast on a dead snail.

Or live snails for that matter :?

go with the fighting counches i had 8 of them in my tank here is a picture of the tank with red slime go to this addresshttp://www.reefaquariumguide.com/forums/showthread.php?s=8cfa8968cfaaf323be610b904b1c4805& threadid=12854&perpage=15&pagenumber=2
:cry:

You can try chemi-clean it worked for me but you also have to find out why and fix the problem.I did a couple of things that helped me.increase water flow/less time with the lights on/a lot of large water changes/and changed skimmers. I had a berlin skimmer and went to a euroreef.My algea has been gone now for just over a month and hope it will not come back.

Mike

Damn, you had 16 sq^ft of open sand bed.. wow..

Steve

Sounds like Dinoflagellates alright...All Algae are a combination of 4 basic ingredients - Light, Phosphates, Nitrates, and CO2 (carbon dioxide). There are other ingredients depending on the species involved (e.g. Diatoms need silicate for their shells etc.) but Dino's have cellulose shells so there is no angle to work them there. I would suggest you keep your KH high, dose Kalk to precipitate phosphates, and cut back on your nutrient input from food, water source. Maximize your nutrient output and clean up and out...make sure when you clean them off that you are getting them out of your system, not just freeing them to float around, decay, and produce more. Good luck.

Stephen

What's so special about the fighting counches? Now I'm gonna have to look them up and read about them. It's interesting that J&L don't have them listed at all (not even under Reef Custodians).
But if they will help with the problem and are suitable for my tank...I will get a few.

Thanks.

Michael

What is so special about them? The short answer is that they do a H*** of a job keeping your sandbed free of algal growth. We have gotten Queen Conches from J&L, but Queens can get a lot bigger than Fighting Conches. I got my FC from SWC. :wink:

I have have used Chemiclean in a fish only system, worked great. In my 20 gallon I had a serious brown algae, bubbles, then it turned to cyano.This was after being set up for 8 month, no skimmer. I did water changes, suction etc. to no avail. I finally broke down at the advise of LFS and used maracyn(erythromycin). The Cyano was gone in 3 days. I then began using local purified water only for top offs and water changes and installed a red sea skimmer. My tank never looked better, and has been flourishing ever since! :D