brown bubbly algae

[Steve H]

beginners question - I just set up a new tank with southdown and LR last thursday now the sand is almost completely covered with brown bubbly algae. My other tank got this often as well and I used sand from that one to seed this one. How do I get rid of this and is it normal. Thanks

 

[teego]

Well your tank has been going for a week. So nothing is normal yet.

A few questions will help determine the algae bloom.

What is the lighting (type, # of watts, color spectrum, age of bulbs)?

How much water flow do you have circulating in the tank. I seem to recall that high levels of circulation can stave off algae blooms.

And what are your paramaters ? (No2, No3, NH3, pH etc)

As your tank completes its cycle, you can expect a decrease.

And then there are clean up crews.........