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my 29gal. SW tank has been running for 2 months now and i'm getting a lot of brown algae. I only feed my fish every other day and small amounts (small fish, damsels). Can anyone help me with how to cure this problem. Its make the tank look super ugly.

It sounds like cynobacteria. It's a normal part of the cycle. You can get soem stuff called chemiclear or something liek that. It works well.



Dan

i'm having the same problem in my tank that has been set up for a similar period of time... so this is normal? if it's part of the cycle will it work itself through in time? is it anything to be worried about (besides aesthetically)?

I dont think is anything to worry about. I have it in my tank as well and there was a lot more of it but there is a little less now. But to make shure none of its dead algae sitting in with it id run your gravel vacumm thru it just to get debris and dead algae out.

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pnh

A picture would be helpful. It could be either cyanobacteria or diatoms. Both are normal for a new tank but there are some things that can help to clear them up.

1) Increase nutrient export via skimmer, refugium (macro algaes) or water changes

2) Increase flow in the tank

3) decrease feedings

4) If it is cyanobacteria then as Dthurs mentioned, there are chemicals that will kill it....It just kills it though and doesnt fix the problem that is causing it. It also kills the cyanobacteria and adds more pollutants to your tank.

But to make shure none of its dead algae sitting in with it id run your gravel vacumm thru it just to get debris and dead algae out.

If you are using sand I wouldnt use a gravel vac. I would instead use airline tubing to suck it out, or better yet....a turkey baster. I wouldnt recomend disturbing the sand bed because if you dont do it correctly you can release a lot of nasties that the sand bed is "holding".