Sometime between day 7 and 9 an algae bloom of brown, hairy algae has overtaken the live rock, live sand, and started attaching itself to the acrylic tank itself. In less than 24 hours, the unsightly stuff has  completely overtaken the gorgeous Coraline Algae and left the uninhabited tank in an ugly mess. As if that isn’t frustrating enough, the water tests are still reading ammonia and no nitrites. Obviously, the nitrates are there or there would be no algae at all. So, it appears that nature has a different idea for this particular ecosystem.

In an effort to eliminate some of this brown, hairy, ugly mess, I have added a thin sheet of filter pad above the filter and rubbed the algae from the sides of the tank, the rock, and the sand. The filter pad has caught a great deal but I have a feeling I will have to do this  a few days in a row. The bright side is that the salinity is finally correct. I will be adding some additional bacteria additive tomorrow in an effort to hasten the cycling of ammonia to nitrite.