myxsptlk Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 Hey peoples, I've been cycling my tank for about 4 weeks now, probably more, and all this while there hasn't been any algae or diatoms of any sort. For the past 4 weeks my tank has been looking white, white rocks and white sand. I only just got my lights sorted last week so I suppose the lack of light caused the lack of algae. The first few days the tank looked even whiter with the white-ish lights on it. Last night I had a look to see if there was anything and nope still white and I sighed to myself, weird I know but I always thought that the algae was a sign that the cycle was nearing completion and at the very least the water is capable of sustaining some life form. Came home from work today and boom, brown patches all over the place! Ugly as sin but I was happy haha. I was expecting the brown stuff, but what I wasn't expecting was tiny little patches of what I can only describe as grass all over the glass. If you can imagine a bare field where someone stuck shrubs of grass nice and evenly across the field, that's what it looks like. I read up a bit and saw hair algae being mentioned, could this be it? I thought that usually only happened after the brown stuff disappeared and not appear all at once. Should I just leave it or scrape it off with a glass cleaner? I don't want to scrape it off only to find out they're like aiptasia and grow from tiny bits. Thanks all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 Is the algae "hair like" Black? If so, yep black beard or what ever u like to call it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myxsptlk Posted June 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 no no, not black, its green, almost a yellow tint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camnbron Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 Have a look at this website, it may be of use to you in identifying things that appear in your tank. Xtalreef ID Site Hope that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 Its just hair algae, common and one of the algae phases you'll go through. Remove what you can, be patient as it will come back, but eventually, as your tank matures, it will die off. Without being rude, this is very basic saltwater stuff, which you should know before setting a tank up. Do some more research, buy a book or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myxsptlk Posted June 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 eeps it looks like hair algae or bryopsis which both say bad on them! Will they start to spread or should I just leave it and hope that it clears up by itself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 Its just hair algae, common and one of the algae phases you'll go through. Remove what you can, be patient as it will come back, but eventually, as your tank matures, it will die off. Without being rude, this is very basic saltwater stuff, which you should know before setting a tank up. Do some more research, buy a book or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myxsptlk Posted June 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 yep yep u replied just when I replied, all good then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 ok, you've got diatoms, hair algae, just wait for the cyno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markoshark Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 cyano is at least pretty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 cyano is at least pretty cyano is the ugliest i reckon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollergirl Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Eeek yea my tank is doing a mini-cycle at the moment after upgrading and putting new lights on...cyano going for gold and i swear I scrape the glass twice a day! But coralline taking off as well so that can only be a good sign Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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