brown algae outbreak

i have a quick question. i'm currently cycling a new tank and have an extreme outbreak of brown algae/diatom bloom. i've cycled tanks before but never have experienced an outbreak of this size, everything is covered...i'm cleaning the glass twice a day. my question is should i let the algae cycle run it's course or would it help to remove the rock and scrub/wash off as much growth as i can? i've never had to do it before but was just wondering what my best course of action would be. all comments would be appreciated.

thanks,
jonathan

 

well first how long have you been has the cycle been. also did you do just regular tap water or RO water because if it was tap thats were the diatoms came from. also another way to decrease this is to have a couple of powerheads in there hitting the rocks away after a couple of days it will start to diminish. also dont put any lights on it because that will feed it. use a turkey baster to blow some of the rocks also. Also is this tank anywhere near a window were the sun will hit it directly?? sorry for all the question but that will help us sort it out to see what the problems are also what are you water parameters???

 

i'm looking past the basics, but to answer your questions the rock was supposedly cured but i am going through another cycle due to shipping or something unforseen. the rock has been placed into the tank for nearly three weeks (obviously there needs to be patience on my part because more time remains), the tank was fed with distilled and i have two mj1200's firing into opposite corners of the tank (roughly 40x turnover), i do have a turkey baster but find it more beneficial to just use a powerhead, my halide is on a two hour photoperiod because i want to maintain what coraline and life is on the rocks, no direct sun......50% water change weekly, remora running 24/7, running carbon, cleaning glass, etc.

my question was could i scrub the rocks of this nuisance to speed along the cycling? (this is my third tank but have never seen algae arrive at this magnitude)

 

I would stop your water changes or at least drop it down to normal levels. Allow the water to mature. When I went through this I scrubbed and scrubbed but the next day the cyano was back. I think it's just a time thing.
J

 

thanks jason. that's the input i was looking for.

 

I'll second Jason's note. I went through the same thing for about 6 weeks. I manually sucked out the biggest masses of cyano, kept the tank's filters clean, reduced feedings, and eventually it went away.
However, it was replaced by green hair algae, although not as bad an infestation.

 

Some phosphates and silicates even come with good RODI water, especially before the tank's bacteria are established. How about using a phosphate reactor, in addition to the other chemical filtration and skimming? I just bought one that I'm using to cycle LR that was "sopposedly cured," and I'm quarantining it in a separate container, which is always a good habit, even in a new tank. I'm guessing there was probably a die off on your LR. I also would wait it out with monthly water changes.

 

Reefbuzz, I thought the problem was phosphates, too.
But, my phosphates are minimal. My problem is high nitrates.

 

Jonathan,
Jason and I answered your question with comments about cyanobacteria (a.k.a. blue-green algae, red slime algae). Is this what you have, or is your problem something different?

 

to tell you the truth, i am not up to speed on my algae identifications. however, the color of the outbreak is brown...assuming brown algae but i'm not positive it's a diatom bloom. i've never had to deal with cyano or red slime and this growth is neither a blue-green or red in color. maybe that could help you guys with what course of action i should take. thanks again.