algae

How can you get rid of brown stringing algae that has bubbles on it?The stuff has my live rock looking like i put a bubble wand in the tank. Has been set up for 3 weeks and the water really smells bad.Have been doing water changes reg. Thanks for the help.:-/

 

Sounds like either Cyano or Dinoflagellates. Either way they usually only come up in newly cycled(cycling) tanks or when something is going wrong.

If it's a new tank it will often resolve itself as the cycle completes. If it's cyano you can use one of the commercial anti-cyano preparations which require careful monitoring and massive water changes but are effective. if it's dinoflagellates then it's usually a silica and/or phosphates problem. If you're using tap water it's probably high in one or both.

If the water smells bad that's a good sign of a bacterial process - which is part of a cycle, but if the smell persists more than a couple weeks I would start to get concerned. It sounds like you are cycling live rock, if so that can account for a lot of weird and nasty smells for a few days.

Anyways... more tank info always helps, but it sounds like a normal cycle. You can "cheat" with anti-cyano and various bacterial inoculations which can sort of modify the cycle, but even with that there are natural processes that take months to mature. A natural cycle takes several weeks, 3-4 at least. I would suggest that once the smell starts to go away and your water is testing low in nitrogen compounds (ammonia, nitrates, nitrites) then figure out what kind of hardy fish species appeals to you and consider adding them. e.g. I started with blue/green chromis damsels and they're doing great over 2 years later and are very bright and active members of the tank. Unless you have a very specific stocking list in mind you should consider something similar to start adding a small amount of fresh nitrogen into the tank to encourage bacterial growth.

You can also add something like a bit of raw uncooked shrimp and let the tank digest it over the course of a week or so... but if you plan to have any of the hardier species anyways, adding one of them early is usually going to work out ok as long as they're eating and healthy - some of it depends on tank size. Under 50 gallons you have to go a bit slower to avoid rapid swings.

anyways....

more tank info, sounds normal tho, etc...

-Doug

 

good advice above

 

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