# Brown algae(I think its diatom)



## plantblr (Feb 27, 2007)

Hi all ,

This is my 1st post here.


My glass,leaves of my plants,the filter & the gravel all are covered by a Brown slippery thing,which I think is Diatoms .

The tank is a 50gallon,the lighting being 65watts x 2 for 10hrs a day.
My tank doesn't have many fast growing plants,currently I have many Anubias,Ferns,10 Vals & 2 Swords in it.I think maybe of less fast growing plants there is this breakout.

Please help........the tank has begun looking really ugly 


Many thanks
Ravi


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Diatoms are common in new setups & low light setups. It will disappear in time as the tank matures. In the meantime you can just keep it wipped off the equipment & glass. You could also employ some Otto's to help with the cleaning. Snails can also help. 

I would also suggest getting some more fast growing plants in there. Instead of planting you could use some floaters like Hornwort, Red root floater, watersprite etc. 

Also make sure that you are dosing ferts (micros,nitrates,phosphates,potassium) & using a carbon source like Seachem Excel or C02 injection (best choice).


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

If you don't want to use the floaters like Trenac suggested, you can cut your lights back to 8 hours until you get a few more plants in the tank. The Anubias and Java Ferns will probably do a bit better with a shorter photo period and the Swords and vals will should do fine with 8 hours. Shortening the photo period will probably help a bit in preventing other types of algae as well, assuming you fertilize like Trena suggested. 

Since this was your first post, welcome to APC...you had a pretty busy day accumulating 31 posts in less than 12 hours


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## plantblr (Feb 27, 2007)

Hi Trenac/Matt,
Thanks a ton for your inputs......
This is quite a old tank,say.....around 6 months old.The only change i did recently was upgrading the light from a meagre 20 watts to a whopping 130 watts......& planting those vals & swords.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Well you found the cause of the Diatom algae! I have run into similar issues on tanks in the past when I have upgraded the lighting, though I have never done such a large change. Given your lighting change, you will definitely need to adjust your fertilizer level accordingly. It is now even more important to get some more plants in the tank.


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## plantblr (Feb 27, 2007)

Thanks matt ,

I just got some 3 types of Crypts this weekend & planted them(around 10 of them each,so....10 x 3=30),some Baby tears & some Hydrilla too(it looks just awesome with that dark Green look,just love it )......Now will have to wait & check if the Diatoms reduce........


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

The diatoms would have cleared either way but the additional plant mass should help with future algae problems assuming you add the fertilizers like trenac suggested.

Let us know how the tank progresses and be sure to share a pic or two.


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## plantblr (Feb 27, 2007)

Hi all,

Here are a few pics,just with Anubias & Ferns,before I planted the tank with more plants.You can view the pics on the link below.Will soon post the pics after I have planted the tank.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/?saved=1

Thanks
Ravi


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## plantblr (Feb 27, 2007)

Hi all,

Can you pls recommend some fish which eats up any algae(irrespective of the type)?

Thanks in advance,
Ravi


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

-Mollies will eat most algae if you keep them hungry for it.
-Otocinclus will eat diatom algae and some others, but not hair algae.
-Siamese Algae Eaters will eat most, especially the BBA/Hair algae until they get older (past 3.5 inches) or spoiled on fish food
-Chinese Algae Eaters would just as soon eat your fish before they eat any algae


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

I took a look at your pxs. and I don't see any fast growing plants in there. You might want to get some fast growers to take up the extra nutrients.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Besides the above mentioned fish. A small pleco such as Clown or Bristlenose and Amano shrimp are good algae eaters. Some also use Flagfish to eat algea.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

The problem with fish that will eat algae is you basically have to keep them hungry all the time or they will not eat algae. This can be a problem is you have other fish in the tank that need to eat.

I've never kept Mollies but it seems most Livebearers are always hungry so they may eat some algae.

SAEs will eat algae until they have had fish food then forget it..they will need to be very hungry to go at algae and seem to prefer fine leaved plants and moss that are in the tank over the algae. 

As mentioned, Otocinclus eat diatom algae but not other types of algae.

You asked about fish, but in my opinion, Amano Shrimp are probably the best algae eaters out there. The problem with them is that they are small in comparison to most fish and fish like to eat shrimp. I keep a 10g tank with about 30 or so Amano Shrimp in it. When my other 10g shrimp tanks get algae (I don't add fertilizers or CO2 to my shrimp breeding tanks so I do get some algae in them), I put 15-20 Amano Shrimp in the tank and they take care of the algae in about a week, maybe less. At the rate of 1-2 Amano shrimp per gallon, they should do a very quick job on most filamentous algae...though at $2-$3 per shrimp (or more) it can get very expensive.

Cutting the photoperiod back, adding more plants and being patient is the best way to reduce diatom algae. If you manually remove other types of algae when you first start to notice them and add the appropriate fertilizers for your style of tank, you can keep algae at bay. Keep the plants happy and you won't have very much algae, if any


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## plantblr (Feb 27, 2007)

Tex Gal said:


> I took a look at your pxs. and I don't see any fast growing plants in there. You might want to get some fast growers to take up the extra nutrients.


Hi Tex Gal ,
The pics what you saw are before I planted the tank with more fast growing plants.I have already planted it & some more to go.Will soon post you the updated pics.

Thanks for viewing..
Ravi


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## plantblr (Feb 27, 2007)

Hi All ,

Back again.......I planted my tank with fast growers,controlled the light a bit & put in some guppies,the result was amazing.You can see it for yourself in the pics below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

Many thanks
Ravi


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Looks very clean, nice job!


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## plantblr (Feb 27, 2007)

Hi all,
1st of all Wish you & your families a very Happy New Year .

For the past 2months or so I find that there is a lot of Green cotton like algae growing in many parts of my tank.Every time I see that its grown too much,i manually remove it.Can some one pls advice how this pain can be stopped once for all?

>Lighting : 2.6wpg / 10hrs a day (No direct sunlight).
>Water changes : 50% change Once a month.
>No ferts dozed,no CO2 as this is a El Natural style tank(Walstad style).
>Lot of fast growing plants like Vals,Crypts,Nuphur Japonica,Amazon swords.

Many thanks in advance,
Ravi


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## plantblr (Feb 27, 2007)

Any inputs on this?Pls advice ASAP......


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