a whole lot of brown stuff

[Timmo760]

ok i've been getting some brown algea for a little over a month ago, i did 50% water changes two days in a row a week and a half ago thinking that it would help, but the next day the brown algea was back. i have been testing my water a lot more lately, my test kit was telling me my nitrates were between 40-60ppm, so i took a water sample to my lfs and theirs says that my water is perfect. so i odn't know whats going on. i don't feed a whole lot nothing is dying/decaying. the brown algea mainly grows on the sand and rocks, a little on the glass, but there is mostly green algea on the glass. i have to clean it off every day. any input would be really nice, thank you

again, my water peramiters are great
pH 8.2
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 0
calcium 350

[Engine8ff]

What is your mag, alk and phos. Calcium needs to come up. Get that tested and let us know what you find. What size tank do you have and how long has it been up and running.

[Timmo760]

i don't know what those tests are, i don't have a test for those and my lfs didn't test that either, my calcium is at 400. my tank is 10g and it's been up and running since feb. of this year. never had this problem before

[stingythingy45]

How old is this tank?
Sounds like the typical diatom bloom that happens to 99.9% of new tanks around the 2-3-4 week point.

[stingythingy45]

Ok,are you using ro/di?
Sounds like diatoms.

[Engine8ff]

Need to take a sample to your LFS and have him test your mag, alkalinity, and phosphates. What kind of water are you using to mix your saltwater up. Are you using RO/DI for your top off? How often was you doing water changes prior to your algae problem? I have an 8 gallon and I do a 2 gallon water change every week. Have you changed anything in the last couple months? Try doing a water change and siphon the algae out. How old are your bulbs?

[bertoni]

Controlling nutrients is likely the key to getting this situation under control. Is anything being fed into the tank at this point? If the tank is very new, then I'd guess this is just part of the startup period.

[taichimaster]

Sounds like over feeding or using tap water....I believe you should do some additional reading and how the balance of chemistry is vital to the reef.

[Timmo760]

the tank is almost a year old. i use RO/DI water and premixed salt water from my LFS. i was doing 2 gallon water changes every week before the bloom. i feed about every other day now. i was feeding everyday. i'll have to cruise over to the lfs again and have them test those peramiters and see whats going on. thanks for the help

[Timmo760]

i'm running 4 T5's 20''. they are pretty new, since october

[Engine8ff]

Get your mag, alk and phos tested and post so we can take a look. In the mean time here is a bunch of reading you can do to understand water chemistry in a saltwater tank, this will help out a bunch. I have read every artical that Randy wrote and some of them 2-3 times.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=102605

[bertoni]

How much and what kind of food are going into the system?

[dbdisok]

Maybe you have Red Slime--aka Cyanobacteria. Red slime algae locks up nitrates, so they may be present even when water tests are fine. Try siphoning off the algae and replacing the water with fresh saltwater. There are also additives the claim to rid your tank of Red slime.

[Luckylouse]

Stay away from the additives. They kill off the beneficial bacteria.