Brown growth on sand

Well, as some of you know I recently set up a new 7g nano. It was a
departure from my 36g reef as I decided to use sand instead of crushed coral
for the substrate. Well, a few weeks into this and I've noticed a brown
dusting/growth growing on the sand in certain places. What is it? Is it good
or bad? And how do I get rid of it if bad? I got some sand burrowing snails
today to start churning the sand up as a precaution. Thanks in advance.

sounds like diatom algae ignore it for now, its one of the few things you can ignore,
generally it goes away on its own, its one of the many things new tanks get some to more
degree than others.
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richard reynolds