marine aquarium problem

Question
I have a 60 gallon tropical marine aquarium which i have purchased recently and am in the process of getting the water balanced before fish are introduced. The problem I am having is that white/light brown skin-like substance is building up on plastic parts which are submerged in the water i.e. spray bar and filter fipes etc. The substance then becomes detached and floats around in the water and eventually becomed lodged in the filter medium. The tank has been completely drained and cleaned, then refilled and the problem has re-occurred. Please help!

Answer
Hi John

sounds to me like brown diatom algae, its perfectly normal. New reefs go through 3 stages, diatom algae, hair algae, and cyano, usually in that order. The Brown you are seeing is normal and expected. it will clear up on its own. Reefs take a year to mature, and usually in the first 8 months you get the algae. Keep a good skimmer going, feed less (if you have fish/corals), and do weekly water changes and it will go away