Brown patches on sand

[a fish called marius]

Help I see some brown Patches on my argonite sand and on some off the live rocks.

[jojo22]

Probably a diatom bloom, hard to say without a pic, if this is what it is I wouldn't worry it's normal, expecially in a new tank.

[graphixx]

that is exactly what you have got. if you dont have a clean up crew in the tank now would be a good time to start looking at some snails. you dont have to introduce a lot of them right now but would help with the cycle. you can add some hermits in there as well. but yep the tank is cycling.

[at]

Yeah brown diatoms. When I first set up my tank I bought 100lbs of live rock,had everything up and running for three to four days,everything was looking perfect,and the next day everything was covered in brown. I freaked out I had just spent $600 in rock and thought everything had died. I called the store and they said to ease up on the lighting. Icould because there was nothing else in the tank at the time, and after 1-2 weeks it went away, and life was good. That is my one and only experience with brown diatoms. Hope it helps

[dakar]

Just as mentioned it's pretty much the norm, generally next will be the red slime (cyanobacteria) if your tank is still maturing...

how much lighting are you providing your tank now and how 'old' is it?

[a fish called marius]

It is a 60 gal tank 8 days old now I have 2 t5 lights in there rated at 39w each one blue and one white

[dakar]

Ah if you are still cycling then you can leave the lights off until after the cycle completes... of course turn them on when you want to gawk in there or re-arrrange all your liverock... we know someone sneaks in at night and moves it around on us so we need to move it back.

[a fish called marius]

On the question on the lights, what do you guys think do i have to much or to littel.

[dakar]

On the question on the lights, what do you guys think do i have to much or to littel.

Depends on what you are planning to keep. For fish only you are fine, fish don't care... but for most coral they will likely not be as happy as they should.

IMO 5-7 watts of light per gallon works out 'okay or better' for most less than demanding animals, in more shallow tanks (19" or so).

Personally I like 10w+ for stoney corals or tanks where coral could be more than 20" below the surface, then again I'm the fool that liked watching the 'lectric meter 'spool up' like a turbo charger when all the halides power up. At least I know I'm not alone on that one ;)

[a fish called marius]

Ok i was planning in buying some more lights, just confirming

I also see allot of bubbels on the LR and and mosly in the in the brown areas.
i am not using a skimmer , only getting that tomorrow.

[iVgOnMaD]

Check for a micro bubble leak in your filter, maybe your filter or one of your pumps is the culprit.

Also, did you use tap water when you started your tank?
You could have a nitrate or phosphate problem.

Also make sure you have good water flow all around your live rock and try to keep all your live rock at least 4 inches away from any glass walls.

Good luck, just getting over the same problem myself.



Ps. Set your timer so that the lights are on with a two hour break in the middle of the day cycle. This helps with algae growth since algae needs extended periods of light to grow.