algae question

[habs247]

hey everyone. clowns seem to be doing great, so thanks for your help.

came home to what appears be brown diatom algae. would appreciate confirmation from the pics attached. the tank is a month old and clowns were added 3 days ago. first livestock added to tank.

doing some quick reading, these appear to be my solutions (and my remedy follows):

1) increase flow (i had the mp40s turned down for the new clowns, but i've turned them back up to about 70%)
2) lights out (i've now turned off the fixture, which is a vertex illumine so i don't think colour / age of the bulbs is an issue)
3) reduce feeding (probably guilty of this as i was worried the little guys weren't eating, so will cut back)
4) water change (10% planned for Saturday, one week from addition of clowns)

Anything else I can do? At what level of nitrates should I be concerned regarding the livestock?

Thanks in advance.

[Reef Puffer]

at a month old im sure it is diatoms. they will go away on their own. give it a month or so.

[Cal_stir]

yes diatoms, they will go away, be patient, don't do things too quickly the tank has to mature slowly.
fish can handle fairly high nitrate levels, I would be concerned if they get over 25 ppm.

[habs247]

Thanks to you both. I'll test all my levels tonight.

For reference, here are some shots - they're diatoms then? ImageUploadedByTapatalk1340159219.661126.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1340159232.990782.jpg

[globaldesigns]

That is minimal, and I wouldn't worry about it. Just watch it and make changes (as you stated above) if it does get worse.

[tang daddy]

That's the start of a cycle, it will only get worse from here on out, your next unsightly algae will be hair algae then maybe a cyano stage....

Mark my words.... Hair algae!

Give it a month and the hair algae will settle in then the pods will thrive on the food source and once the hair algae is gone and there is no traces of cyano then it's safe to assume that your tank is fully cycled.

Part of the hobby my friend, heaven in the ocean wasn't created in 1 month.... Be patient and enjoy the ugly for later the beautiful will emerge.

Most people can't wait and usually shut down their tank before it's even fully cycled.

A few tips is to turn off powerheads and flow and baby feed the fish so no extra food is in the tank causing algae to thrive.... Be patient, and do not try to correct for now as it will prolong the cycle, I have had hair algae disappear in 2 weeks on new tanks and some last up to 2 months. It depends on balance which can be different in tanks.

Do you have any seeded rock or start with all macro??

[habs247]

Thanks TD. I started with all marco and dosed with MB7.

I tested last night for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates and all were 0. For now anyway.