Please identify this picture

What kind of algea is this??

 

looks like brown diatoms to me, how long has tank been set up?

Steve

 

i would second the answer of brown diatoms

 

3 months. The algae is only on the sand. the LR looks perfect. It got worse when I cleaned out the tank and I guess I disturbed the sand bed.

 

if it is diatoms, nothing required, just let if use up all the silicates and it will fade and go away

Steve

 

How long should this take? It has been this way for a few weeks. There really is no bio load on the tank other than hermits and coral.

 

Hi Gregger , it varies , depends on how much silicate is available
it depends on if more silicates are added, so if you where using tap water, it may last a lot longer

typically, mine have always arrived at about week 4 - 6 and get worse until week 8 - 10 , and by weeks 12 - 16 they normally go away

so anywhere between 4 - 8 weeks has been normal for my tanks
( the amount of plastic and type of plastic used on each set up varies , hence I cant give a definitive answer )

but the one thing that does not vary is - once the silicates are zero, the diatoms will follow shortly

Steve