What is this brown/green stuff everwhere

[iammitch3479]

So I tested the water today and th results are as follows.

Ca KH Nitrate Pho Am Nitrite pH
340 7 0 0.25 0 0 8

Also while I was testing I started to notice light brown stuff on some rocks and the sand, I fear that whatever I had before the blackout is starting to comeback... Any advice here? please!

Heres some pics from today

http://imgur.com/a/BU9um

 

[JohnK]

Those pics are a little dark, but as far as I can tell most or all of the brown on the sand is diatoms and or a little cyano.

Is there any stringy snot like stuff now?

 

[iammitch3479]

Not now, no. But this stuff has been growing fast. It is only 3 days after the blackout and it's mostly covered the bottom of the tank.

 

[delta]

how long did you do lights out?

Your parameters are out of sorts

if your Ca and Alk is low at 370 & 7DKH and your ph is 8, something is off

What's your Mg

Well remember if you have a nutrient problem and it is a nutrient based algae or even bacteria it will thrive once it has light and nutrients to feed on. It may very well be Cyano. Does it disappear right after lights out?

 

[iammitch3479]

i did a three day lights out, i don't have a MG test kit, and no it stays after lights out, it looks a little better in the morning but definitely still there.

 

[JohnK]

i did a three day lights out, i don't have a MG test kit, and no it stays after lights out, it looks a little better in the morning but definitely still there.

Sounds like you're dealing with just cyano and diatoms at this point. Dinos will seem to disappear shocking quickly in the dark, only to re-appear almost as shockingly quickly.

Diatoms and cyano will slow down in the dark, but not rapidly crash.

 

[Marshall O]

How much flow do you have in the tank?

 

[saltcrazy]

Chemiclean

 

[RichardinMA]

It looks like Diatoms to me. I did not see any Cyanobacteria in the photos. In reef tanks, Cyano is most commonly red or dark maroon. Diatoms are actually pretty easy to get rid of as they utilize silica in their growth and are pretty limited by it's level. Are you using RO/DI water? What is the TDS? Silica is very common in untreated water and can even leach from the glass in a new tank. Darkening the tank will only stop the growth of Diatoms as long as it is dark, just as others have mentioned. Get rid of the silica and the Diatoms will die out quickly. Using an adsorbant media in a filter bag or reactor is the fastest and easiest way to do so. Out of all the most common problems with reef tanks they are one of the easiest to get rid of. Incidentally, what salt mix do you use?

 

[CrypticLifeStyle]

I setup a 20g a couple weeks ago. Diatom stage hit last weekend. I grabbed a seachem phosgaurd packet Wednesday night for $6- at Petco that is good for up to a 30g, threw it in a hob, and its already basically gone. If you don't want to wait the stage out like myself that's a cheap option to take as mentioned above.

 

[Jr22121]

how has it been now?