Brown Algae?!

[Agnate]

So, I just noticed that a bunch of my fake plants and one of my white pieces of coral are COVERED in this brown algae-looking stuff. I did some brief research and noticed that this happens a lot in saltwater tanks, and is caused by having a lot of silicates in the tank. My question is, how in the world can I locate the source of these silicates and eliminate them? I have a bunch of fake plants in my tank... could that be causing it? I seriously hope not, because I paid a retarded amount of money for them at the LFS, and will be quite bitter if they're the items leeching these supposed silicates.

The only thing that's in my tank that wasn't purchased from the LFS is the hot glue I used very sparingly to attach a couple of those fake plants to some of the white coral chunks.

Tank: Seemingly Uncycled 28 gallon
Inhabitants: 5 Bumblebee Gobies, 1 Zebra Snail, 1 Apply Snail
Filter: 40 gallon hang-on-back type
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0.5 - 0.75 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 0 ppm

The brown algae is only visibly on about 10 plant leaves near the very top of the tank, and on one pieces of the white coral rock. However, it's likely in the substrate and such, and I just can't see it.

Any suggestions?

[smudger72]

How long have you been running the tank? Brown algae normally occurs when a tank is still very new.
Your ammonia reading isn't good and most tanks have some sort of nitrate reading,unless you are using RO water.
Keep an eye on the fish and be prepared for water changes because it sounds like your tank isn't cycled.

[Agnate]

Indeed, the tank has been brackish for about a month now, and I posted in an earlier topic about my concern that it still isn't cycled yet. Should I consider rinsing the filter out to kill whatever is in it, and maybe that will kick-start a cycle?... Or consider picking up a new filter cartridge?

[pixiefish]

Hi Agnate,
I just wanted to say that rinsing the filter (unless in tank water) to kill off everything won't 'kickstart' a cycle, it will just kill the small amount of beneficial bacteria you already have and put the cycle back to square one.
A month seems quite long without any nitrites showing, though. When you ask about picking up a new filter cartridge I'm wondering if this is the type of renewable one which contains zeolite or ammo-lock? If so, you will never be able to grow a cycle. The ammo absorbing media does not allow beneficial bacteria to grow because it locks away what the bacteria need to live on. Once the media becomes exhausted it begins leeching the ammonia back into the tank.
You probably know this already, but I just thought I'd chime in as your post caught my eye.

[Agnate]

Yeah, it's a fair concern to raise. My filter is a pretty basic HOB filter with no fancy/expensive type of media, so I can't imagine they would add that in without a price increase.

[pixiefish]

Yeah, it's a fair concern to raise. My filter is a pretty basic HOB filter with no fancy/expensive type of media, so I can't imagine they would add that in without a price increase.

Oh. Does it have floss, sponge and/or bio-stars, or a cartridge with a media bag and carbon which you are supposed to renew every so on?

[Agnate]

It's a cartridge with a media bag, but it's only 2.5 months old. I can't imagine it would need renewing already... would it?

[pixiefish]

Well, if it contains ammo-chips the salt in the tank will cause it to release it's ammonia. I think salt is the re-charger for ammo-chips and bleach for zeolite - someone will jump in if I'm wrong.
Do you have a brand name for it?
Basically, cycle-able media is designed to remain in the filter to house the bacteria and should never be tossed out- whereas any filter cartridge which needs periodically replacing would mean discarding any bac colony altogether and starting again. Therefore, the chances are that a cartridge which needs renewing, is one which controlls and absorbs the waste output for you rather than letting a colony of nitrosomonas and nitrobacter grow to process and convert it into nitrate.
I hope I'm not intruding here, as I am new to the forum - it's just that I've been doing a ton of work on cyling issues in another forum where the most common obstacles have been either an ammonia-absorbing media in the filter OR a very low KH. That also creates problems, as there is nothing to hold the PH steady as the nitrogen cycle tries to turn. But as your PH is 8.0 that seems unlikely.
Perhaps the thing to do is to check on the brand of filter cartridge you are using, so that you can be sure of its contents. If it's just regular media ie floss/sponge/stars- then I'm stumped!

[Agnate]

Indeed. I just installed an Eheim canister filter (2213 I believe) on Tuesday with the standard media in it, so I'm hoping I'll see some results soon. I'll also definitely look into the filter cartridges for my HOB filter to make sure it doesn't have any ammo-chips in it. My HOB is a Top Fin 30, and after doing a quick check, I believe it might possibly have the ammo-lock stuff you speak of.

*Sigh*

I also just read that the heater from them (the one that came in my kit) is also quite crappy. Greeeeat!

[pixiefish]

Aha! Top Fin cartridges usually contain zeolite.
And salt is the recharger for zeolite! (I was wrong before about bleach - that's for something else) So your brackish tank is working like a recharging soak for the saturated zeolite. That's why you have a constant ammonia presence and no cycle. Bingo!
So providing you pull out the zeolite cartridge and find a different media to put into your HOB, you'll start to see results with the Eheim, which is a really good filter.
Fingers crossed

[kxebs]

About the zeolite, I've got some to. But it is special for sea tanks. It says so on the box. Shouldn't I must have the same ammonium problem? Because I don't....

[Agnate]

Oy! Alrighty, I'll switch out my cartridge and hope that my canister filter will cycle it properly. *Grumbles*

[Agnate]

Okay, it turns out that the cartridge actually opens at the top, so I dumped out all the media and gave the filter bag a thorough rinse. Does the bag contain the zeolite, or the media? I'm hoping it's the media, because I'd still like to keep the HOB filter for mechanical cleaning, at least. The bag is white and just looks like a flossy-type of bag...

[pixiefish]

The media contains the zeolite. You can still use your hob for biofiltration, too. You can either put sponge into the cavity or some media-noodles/ceramic biostars depending on how much space there is. API make media called Matrix which has a lot of surface area for the beneficial bacteria to colonize.

[pixiefish]

About the zeolite, I've got some to. But it is special for sea tanks. It says so on the box. Shouldn't I must have the same ammonium problem? Because I don't....

My feeling is that zeolite has no place in an established aquarium.
Although you may have the type designed for marine use, the principal of the nitrogen cycle remains the same; the bacterial colony in an established tank feed on and process the fishes waste for you. Nitrosomonas feed on ammonia, producing nitrite as a by-product; nitrobacters feed on nitrIte converting it to nitrAte. If you have an ammonia grabbing media in the tank, it locks away the very thing the bacteria feed on. Consequently you can never develop a very strong cycle. The added disadvantage is that when the zeolite becomes exhausted it begins to release it's ammonia load back into the tank, putting you at risk of a PH crash. If you are very attentive to the zeolite renew date, I guess it's OK, but basically, why have a chemical system which can become unstable when you could simply grow a strong bac colony to do the job naturally?