Brown Stuff, Need Help

DCfisher01

hey everyone , i have a 10 gallon tank with 7 african cichlids, dont worry they're only in there for a little bit longer, untill the bigger tank gets cycled, and i keep getting a bunch of brown algie, i clean the tank and the stuff just comes back stronger more rapidly, any sugestions?

Judge

Hi there DCfisher, I am not a FW person but maybe more info might help. What about water changes and what kind of equipment do you have, how often are you changing the media...

orb4me

I think maybe you have what is called diatoms.

I think maybe you have what is called diatoms. I looked back through some threads and found the following that I had copied from somewhere. Tommy Gun actually helped me with this problem the first time I found it in the tank. What is your nitrate readings, and is this a new tank so to speak? anything under a year old seems to be new.


copied: Referred to as a microalgae, brown or golden algae is actually not an algae at all, but diatoms. What you are actually seeing in your tank are diatom skeletons, all linked together. It can appear as a simple dusting on the tank walls and substrate surfaces, or it can turn into a massive growth that covers just about everything in the tank. This type of algae outbreak typically occurs when a tank is just completing or has finished the nitrogen cycling process,



Theres a lot more on this topic way back in the older threads somewhere, this is the one I found. If no one comes around to help you, check back between Jan and April for topics. , sorry, but its the best I can do right now. Ill check back tomorrow and check on you and your tank

missfish

Plecos plecos plecos! I had a brown alage looking stuff grow on a tank i was cycling, when it was done I chucked my Pleco in their and he cleaned the whole tank in one night! I nearly tasted it myself it must have been that yummy!

harley3k

What're your nitrates at? I hope that big tank is ready soon.

Jay

Brown Algae (Diatoms) are a very common occurrence in new tanks, as the tank ages they go into decline and are replaced by colonies of green algae.

The diatom (shell) and their survival depends on silicates in the water. The sources of the silicates can be tap water, sand, the glass in a new aquarium etc. etc. Further, if the silicate to phosphate ratio is high it will give the diatoms a growth "advantage" over other algae. As the tank ages the leaching of silicates slows and the ratio changes favoring green algae.

This stuff can exist in very little light so light adjustments do not work.

Little otto catfish love it. Three or four in a 10 gallon will put a dent in it.

Filter products designed to reduce nitrates will also scavenge silicates.

Check your nitrate levels. If they are high, it is an indication that other organic compounds you cannot measure are also high.

Do not overfeed.

Regards,
Jay