Can't get rid of the Brown Stuff

[hickoryhollow]

I have had an outbreak of a few different Brown Algaes. I have the famous Diatom. The pain in the butt slimy stringy that holds bubbles kind of Algae. I have done numerous water changes in the past 3 months and have put in a phosban bag and a chemi pure bag. Nothing seems to be getting rid of it. I have it all over the dsb, rock, glass, xenias, corals and so on. What can I do to rid this once and for all?
I'm getting a test kit Sat. Don't have one at the moment. All I have is the strips and they seem to be as acurate as they can get for the money. ( That's not saying much ).

Thanks

[lcstorc]

Ultimately algae is fed by excess nutrients and to some extent light. Is the tank in sunlight? That is the light that contributes most. That or old bulbs.
AFA nutrient control.
Always use RO/DI water for water changes and top off
Rinse all food in RO/DI water prior to feeding to remove the phosphates that are used as a preservative.
Water change, water change, water change. When you do the water change siphon as much algae out as you can. Generally a toothbrush will help. I have also had success kind of pulling a piece off of the rocks and removing it in kind of a sheet.
reduce feeding at one time. It is better to feed a small amount several times a day. In nature fish snack all day. If we put too much food in at one time it just rots and feeds the algae.
Did I say water change? Fairly large amounts are good. I wouldn't be afraid to do a couple of 40% changes back to back. Maybe every other day or every three days.
Rinse or replace all filter materila frequently. Twice a week or more.
That should take care of it. It will not disappear overnight. It will take time and effort but it can/will be done with heavy maintenance and time.

[hickoryhollow]

Thanks Lynn,
How long do you think it will take for the Chemi-pure and the Phos Ban bag to take effect? And will it work better in the Display tank or should I leave it in the sump? What test kits do you recomend?

Thanks

[rmlevasseur]

Chemi-pure and phosban are just bandaids. You need to find the source. Test your RO/DI water with a TDS meter and rinse all your food before feeding. Setting up a refugium with chaeto also helps remove the excess nutrients.

When using phosban, go slow! You do not want to remove phosphate all at once or it could shock the animals. Start with small amounts at first, changing it out every ten days or so. Once phosphate levels are in acceptable ranges, you can run larger amounts for longer periods of time.

[yvr]

What brand of salt are you using just out of curiosity? I am a pretty firm believer that the salt you chose has a big impact on algae growth...as you may know, lower quality salts may contain phosphates or nitrates that can contribute to your algae problem.