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I'm starting to think this isn't diatomes

3K views 23 replies 6 participants last post by  lilbabyvenus 
#1 ·
I just scrubbed the tank (again..) so I don't have a picture right now, but I've been battling with, what I thought was, diatomes for months now, and they just keep getting worse. Our 55 has been cycled for roughly 6 months now, which I know isn't an incredible amount of time, but I assumed this was a long enough time-span for diatomes to clear up. However, they just continue to regrow. I added a second filter, that wasn't needed, just to increase water flow and movement, and this changed nothing. I decreased light time, I am only feeding our fish twice a week, and I put in a new bubbler for more surface aggitation. Everything has been added in or changed slowly to make sure nothing would cause a negative effect, but nothing has helped either. I can scrub the sides of the tank, and within 24 hours they're covered in brown again. I'm completely lost. My plants are covered, my driftwood is covered... everything. I even added in a silica(?) removed to our canister filter to eliminate any excess that may be contributing. What else could be going on here? What else can I do? The boyfriend is ready to get rid of the tank because it looks so gross. I'm cleaning it twice a week and it's just insane how it never looks clean =(
 
#2 ·
I had a battle with brown algae a looooong time ago. What water conditioner are you using? How much water are you taking out during WCs? How are you dosing water conditioner? It seems strange by I was overdosing my conditioner. I was using a Python and taking out 20% water but dosing conditioner for the whole tank. Once I stopped this it cleared up in a few weeks. At least this was my experience with brown stuff.
 
#3 ·
I guess I'm glad I'm not the only one who's gone through this! :lol:



What water conditioner are you using? Prime
How much water are you taking out during WCs? Roughly 50%
How are you dosing water conditioner? I measure out half a capful for half the 55 gal tank, and drop a bit into each bucket that I add into the tank
 
#4 ·
So, I am glad we can eliminate that. Another cause is too much silicate (can come from tap water) and nitrate and too little light with low oxygen levels. How long are your lights on? Do you have plants? 50% WCs is a lot. I think if you dial back WC to 20% for a while it will help. Have you tested your tap water for nitrates? Increase your light a little. This is like a double edged sword. I have plants and with more lights comes other types of algae. Don't overthink it all. I am guilty of that and I run myself ragged sometimes. I could also suggest a few otocinclus catfish. They're small and voracious eaters.
 
#7 ·
Sorry for the late replies, I got home late from class last night and was just too tired to hop back online.


I haven't found nitrate in my tap water, but I have wondered about silicate. I put in a baggie of PhosGuard in my filter for the water to pass through thinking this would help, but it hasn't. I did purchase two albino bristlenose plecos a month or so ago and they have helped tremendously. (they are each only about two inches in length right now) Should I add a couple oto's as well?

Sometimes it just has to run its course. I had a tank that took almost a year before diatoms went away. If you have room and would like fish to help out otos and BN plecos just ate the stuff up for me.
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I'm glad to see your suggestion! :lol: I did add two albino bristlenose plecos about a month ago and they munch on it continually, but they can't keep up! Would they get along with otos ok?

I'd have to add to those suggesting otos for the diatoms, thats what they live off of. No more than 5 would be able to make a dent in your 55g. I have also had diatoms due to older substrate and wood. Any stuff that could be breaking down to its molecular microparts?
Thanks Jon. I do have a piece of driftwood, but it doesn't appear to be breaking down. I have plants as well, but could use more. The substrate is new to the tank, it's Petco's black sand.
 
#5 ·
Sometimes it just has to run its course. I had a tank that took almost a year before diatoms went away. If you have room and would like fish to help out otos and BN plecos just ate the stuff up for me.
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#6 ·
I'd have to add to those suggesting otos for the diatoms, thats what they live off of. No more than 5 would be able to make a dent in your 55g. I have also had diatoms due to older substrate and wood. Any stuff that could be breaking down to its molecular microparts?
 
#8 ·
green dust algae ?
short answer, like diatoms, ignore it, ... unlike diatomes, the more you clean them up the longer they will last
ignoring it, it builds up, gets worse, starts to suffocate itself, falls off the glass in sheets all dead, problem solved.

something to look up and consider
this is if it is green dust algae, if it's not, ... better to look into it before you ignore it waiting for it to drop dead.
do an image search to see if it's even remotely close
 
#12 ·
cyanobacteria ?
suspended particles in the water that are settling ?

after that i'm out of ideas
if you have pictures, i'm at work and not able to see them, so i'm just guessing, ... and ran out of ideas to guess with.

perhaps a type of red algae ? (black beard algae for one)
 
#13 ·
I agree. Pictures at this point would be most helpful. I usually take them with my cell phone then email them to myself. I save them to my computer then I can post them right in the thread. There is no need to post them to a hosting website. I guess if you posted them to any hosting website you could easily include a link in the thread.
 
#15 ·
Brown algea usualy only thrives if light levels are too low to support green algea which will outcompete it. Green algea grows slower, but its harder to scrub off. Brown algea , aka cyanobacteria or diatoms, is usualy the result of high silicates from sand or stones, high nitrate, low light, or low oxygen levels.In more ideal aquarium environments brown algea is eliminated by naturaly occurring unicellular plants and bacteria. Also try adding lots of fast-growing live plants as these will compete with the brown algea for available nuetrients and are more efficient at extracting the nutrients from the water. When I added live plants to my tanks, cyanobacteria decreased almost immediately and is now totaly gone.
Good luck!
 
#21 ·
... Brown algea , aka cyanobacteria or diatoms, is ...
Please do not consider these two to be the same. One is harmless and the other can overtake a tank. Diatoms are particulate matter that appears more "dust-like" with some mild water movement. Cyanobacteria is a major imbalance of lighting and nutrients that appears more slimy and web like.

What you have in the pictures looks most similar to the start/young growth of black brush algae due to the splotched appearance, height of distribution (I've not personally seen Cyano cling to upper levels of the tank), and the presence on the anubias. The Anubias afzelii in your picture is covered in it and susceptible to BBA because it grows slower than the BBA. My guess is that you run your tank light for more than 12 hours each day. Try cutting back your lighting to 4-8 hours. Anubias plants alone can grow well in the shade.

If you dont mind, list out what plants you have or post a picture of the tank along with anything you add to the tank other than food and how long you light your tank, and how much lighting you have over the size of the tank.
 
#18 ·
Try the classified section of this forum. A few members offer excellent plants at good prices and are very good at packing and shipping. Plants I like are anacharis, hornwort, hygrophylum, and echinodorus. For fastgrowing, nothing beats anacharis.
 
#20 ·
I'll check it out, it's been a while since I've taken a look there. Thanks!

if you were closer i could offer a bunch of what i have, ... well closer also meaning same country, ... international shipping is garbage :(
That it is, thank you for thinking of me anyway =)
 
#23 ·
Im considering that it is actually brown algae, being that you dont run lights nearly half the week.

Try a consistent 6-8 hours of light each day during the same time of day. Scrub out all the algae with whatever algae cleaning tool you like. Do some water changes, 20% each day, after scrubbing down the algae.
 
#24 ·
Thanks, I'll give this a try. I do want to add that I used to run the lights longer, but since I assumed this was diatomes I cut back my lighting drastically. I've had it cut back for over a month now though, with no real results.
 
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