# Is this brown algae?



## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

looks like it to me, does it rub off easily? And did you add anything to the tank that may contain silicates? once the silicates in the water are used up, the diatoms will dissapear.


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

Its easy to rub off. Silicates, im not sure...im using silica sand though...


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## Higher Thinking (Mar 16, 2011)

accordztech said:


> Its easy to rub off. Silicates, im not sure...im using silica sand though...


You just answered you own question...But you can get silicate testing equipment to see how high your levels are. Get some ottos!


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

All sand is silica sand. The silica in sand is not soluble in water at all. If it were sand would dissolve over time. In fact very few silicate salts are soluble in water and they're relatively easy to precipitate out. It's possible that you're adding silicates with water changes if you're using tap water and it contains silicates, but you wouldn't know that without testing the water.

If your water has very high silicates you might be able to see that via precipitation. Depending on the salts you have available to test it you'd drop a few crystals in a glass of your water and dissolve them completely. If you get a cloudy mixture or small particles/flakes falling to the bottom something precipitated out of the solution. For silicates I'd try something like Epsom salts or calcium chloride (ice melt salt.) Either one could form a precipitate with other ions in the solution, but in drinking water you'd be most likely to get MgSO4 or CaSO4.


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

So is there a kit i can get locally to test for silicates? 

It seems to take a little effort to rub it off of my plants

Also does high silicates pose a problem for fishes health wise? I noticed my fish are lazy and lame now.

The only thing i can think of that changed before this all happens was that my UV sterilizer went out. I ordered another bulb and it will be in this friday


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## vespers_ (May 6, 2011)

yeah that is it. i had it too, but only on certain leaves of a single plant. after i trimmed away those leaves, it went away and hasn't come back. the new growth doesn't have it. they say it is caused by silicates in your water.


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

Its weird now its turning fuzzy just barley

I decided to clean one of my filters, eheim 2217. It was so dirty. There was black and brown gunk inside. Its only been 3 months since i cleaned it. 

Do you guys think that this was my issue?


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## scape (Nov 27, 2010)

I've heard Ottos are the way to go to remove this, not sure about the filter though, I clean mine monthly(although I could go a couple months no problem).


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

I added some stuff to remove silicates, phosguard. It helped a little bit, especially when I put a clean plant in there. But the brown returned after a week. 

Im tired of this brown stuff. It seems to stunt growth. Im strongly thinking about removing my sand all together.


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## jart (Jan 17, 2003)

I've had an ongoing issue with this as well. A few months now. It seems to have an affinity for older leaves. I am using Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil as my substrate. It is a frustrating algae, as all sources tend to say that it is only an issue in new setups.


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

jart said:


> I've had an ongoing issue with this as well. A few months now. It seems to have an affinity for older leaves. I am using Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil as my substrate. It is a frustrating algae, as all sources tend to say that it is only an issue in new setups.


yeah, its driving me nuts. Mine isnt a new setup, its been over a year! lol


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## jart (Jan 17, 2003)

accordztech said:


> lol


No laughing matter!

But seriously , I'm almost to the point where I could care less. I'll have to tear the tank down in a few months anyway. For now, since i have a few days to keep an eye on the tank, I'll bump up the CO2 a bit, increase the surface ripple, and hope for the best. Good luck with your tank, accordztech


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

jart said:


> No laughing matter!
> 
> But seriously , I'm almost to the point where I could care less. I'll have to tear the tank down in a few months anyway. For now, since i have a few days to keep an eye on the tank, I'll bump up the CO2 a bit, increase the surface ripple, and hope for the best. Good luck with your tank, accordztech


Thanks, good luck to yourself.


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## IxIBluepitIxI (Jan 25, 2011)

Could try a 3 day black out I had diatom, thread, and fuzzy algae after the black out it's all got I started a better regime of dosing and haven't seen any algae since my MTS took out the little bit if fuzz on my java.
I think of the blackout like a reset button for aquariums. A blackout is a little easier than taking out all the sand too I have pool filter sand in my setup and I was on the edge of change out the substrate until I did the black out.


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

IxIBluepitIxI said:


> Could try a 3 day black out I had diatom, thread, and fuzzy algae after the black out it's all got I started a better regime of dosing and haven't seen any algae since my MTS took out the little bit if fuzz on my java.
> I think of the blackout like a reset button for aquariums. A blackout is a little easier than taking out all the sand too I have pool filter sand in my setup and I was on the edge of change out the substrate until I did the black out.


I may just try that. I am about to rescape it. Im going to put all the diatom infected plants in my shrimp tank. The shrimp clean it up over night. Hopefully it will give it a head start.

I stopped dosing a few months ago. Maybe a little bit of csm+b a month but barley any.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Looks like nitrobachter to me. I would do a good cleaning of your filter and re-add the phosguard. Silica sands will leach enough silica to create a problem and they do in fact break down. Thats how silica gets into your tap water and how it became sand from rock. If its diatoms a few 50% wcs will do it as well as an otto cat. Thhis has all been said in here before but its the only things that work for me without doing the blackout. I agree with the blackout but it doesnt solve the root of the problem.


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

today I noticed that my brown algae has come off of most of my plants. I dont know if its because I added some very active cories (they nibble on plants) or its because I pointed my water outlet towards the bottom of the tank.

I also added a little bit of glosso just to see if it would grow while being coverd with diatoms.


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

accordztech said:


> today I noticed that my brown algae has come off of most of my plants. I dont know if its because I added some very active cories (they nibble on plants) or its because I pointed my water outlet towards the bottom of the tank.
> 
> I also added a little bit of glosso just to see if it would grow while being coverd with diatoms.


Well I think I found a solution, on top of the things I already did. My water level was really low, and usually I point the jet bar down so it doesnt make the trickling water noise. Well after a week of that, I noticed all my datoms on my glass....however they are off of my plants! I can actually look at the tank where good water flow is and notice that the diatoms are on the areas with less water flow. 

Now even my glosso, and my starugene is growing faster. 

I made sure I havent done anything else, I havent even dosed for months.


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