Brown Algee

[marks4470]

My tank has been up and running for about 1-1/2 months now and I have alot of that brown algee growing. How long does it last and what can I do to help make it go away?

Also, I hear alot about copepods. What are they and can I add them to my tank and would you want to? I would like to keep a Mandrin fish someday , but I know they need those to eat.

[WaterKeeper]

Hi Mark,

Those are diatoms. They go away on their own but unfortunately are usually replaced by green hair algae. I bet you cured your rock in the display. Snails will eat them and large water changes will remove the nutrients they need to survive. You can also try a GFO based phosphate sponge to remove that chemical faster.

The copepods are tiny shrimp like critters that scurry about the tank, mainly at night. They are the main course on most Dragonet's diets so you want a bunch. To learn more about them see Pods (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-08/rs/index.php).

[crvz]

Indeed, it does sound like diatoms. They feed of silicas, and as soon as their food source is used up they'll die off. Very typical in a new tank (I've always assumed these silicas are found in new glass/plastics used in our tanks due to manufacturing processes, but this is purely speculation on my part). Usually takes a couple of weeks, but if you have them much longer than ~4-6 weeks I'd look at testing your food and water source for excess silicates (if you're introducing silica to further feed the diatoms, they won't disappear).

If you're using live rock, I'd bet you have pods in the tank already, and you just have to wait out their population growth.

[WaterKeeper]

My guess is that the silica comes from the die off of encrusting sponge on curing LR. Their skeleton in mainly silicates and it is possible that some is solubulized during the decay process. Just speculation on my part.