What king of algae is this

[soul4surfin]

I have had this brown algae on my sand bed (only on sand). If I stir it up is shortly (1/2 hour) comes back

Are these dinoflagellates or diatoms...or something else?

Any help would be appreciated.

[Dkuhlmann]

Diatoms, they keep popping up because you're stirring the sandbed and releasing silicates that feed them. Leave it alone and they'll go away on their own.

[soul4surfin]

Anything to help that process along?

[Maritimer]

Some snails will eat them, but once the diatoms are gone, the snails will need something else to snack on . . .

~B.

[Dkuhlmann]

Not really, all you need to do is leave it alone for several days and it will die out on its own. It's part of the nasties that you will get many more of having a new saltwater tank, so might as well get use to it :lmao: There is much more to come. Then one day your tank will be fully matured and you won't have to stress over the nasties/uglies anymore.

Of course some people say that if you turn the lights down or go black out for 3 days they will go away which is true to a point. Once you put the lights back on they usually come back.

And I agree that don't over do the cuc as they will only die down to what your tank will support.

[soul4surfin]

But the odd thing is this is a 3.5 year old tank...not a new setup.

[jraker]

But the odd thing is this is a 3.5 year old tank...not a new setup.

Yeah my tank is more than a year old now and I have gone through several algae phases. I am now getting diatoms and I am interested why

[Dkuhlmann]

IMO every time you stir the sandbed you are exposing more silicates to the light and in turn making more diatoms have a place to grow. I stopped doing it and my diatoms are a thing of the past. Of course I have to move some sand tomorrow due to powerheads moving it away from spots and well, I'll have some by the weekend I'm pretty sure.