brown algae,small bubbles

[P R Wildwood]

i notice a brown algae forming on sand and rocks ..the algae stuff in now letting small bubble from it how do i control this .. any help would be great

[andsoitgoes]

Brown algae - have you just set up your tank? If so - might be diatoms, not much you can do other than waiting - I'd love other options, that's for sure! Any pics? Might help identify it a bit more if it's something different

[Ruth]

It is really hard to make an identification based on description only. A picture would really help. You may want to try and do a search on "Dinoflagellates" which are a nasty algea that almost sounds similar to what you have described.

[marcingo]

Originally Posted by P R Wildwood

i notice a brown algae forming on sand and rocks ..the algae stuff in now letting small bubble from it how do i control this .. any help would be great

About 2 months ago 2 weeks after I started my tank I ran my lights a little too long because the switch didnt turn them off. Anyway I started to get copper colored sand then it turned brown then I got those same small bubbles and the brown algae as you did. Sometimes the bubbles would leave the algae and go to the surface. Also the layer of algae was aweful- covered everything and kinda looked like the skin on cooking milk.

To get rid of it I shut off my lights for 48 hrs and left the tank in darkness- even cover it with towels if you get indirect or direct sunlight. I also did not feed the tank for 48 hrs. After the 48 hrs it seemed alot of the stuff went away. Also after this time period I did like a 30 percent water change. Then when I turned my lights back on I only kept them on 4- maximum 6 hrs a day. In less then a week most of it was gone. Also when I had a little of this stuff left I bought a blue cheek goby I think its called which sifts the sand and got rid of the rest of the stuff by just breaking it apart.

When I was trying to figure out what the bubbles were I read somewhere its just gas the algae or whatever that brown stuff is is releasing.

Just a note. I have heard of lots of people who decided to disturb something on their sandbed by hand and it crashed their tanks so I would not recommend directly removing this stuff by hand just to be on the safe side. If you do what I recommended the stuff should be gone in 1-2 weeks. But you never know this was just my personal experience.

[P R Wildwood]

yes it is a new setup couple weeks.. this all new to me . i have done freshwater for years but this is alot differant here some pic 's keep in mind i'm not a photographer lol . thanks for input so far

http://img176.imageshack.us/my.php?image=algae2yg4.jpg
http://img176.imageshack.us/my.php?image=algaeph8.jpg

[Ruth]

From the pictures that looks more like Diatoms. Just a natural thing that happens on most new set ups. Limit light and it will pass.

[MikeP]

I agree with Ruth, reduce light, feed less and it should go away on it's own. I'll also be the one to give you constructive criticism Unless you bought your set up used and saved the water and rock etc. you should keep a very close eye on your tank parameters since you already put fish, inverts, and mushrooms in. In the near future you will likely get some 'spikes' that may kill some of your tanks inhabitants.

HTH
Mike

[marie]

I have a million and six (only a slight exaggeration ) cerith type snails. they would help with diatoms and keeping the sand clean, if you wanted to come by and pick some up

[Tarolisol]

If its a new tank with no inhabitants its diatoms and will go away eventully, its a cycle thing, but if you have stuff in the tank and are feeding it will take longer, but it should still balance out. If you dont see an imporvment in a couple days, i would sugest a water changed, but i dont even follow my own advice, cycleing is a slow process and will take time.