# Is this Diatoms, Brown Algae?



## jczernia (Apr 16, 2010)

It is a new tank with ADA New Amazonia. About 8 weeks and finally ammonia is close to zero.
My floaters ruts are all brown and my moss is turning brown my glass was but I cleaned it.
Please let me know if it is Diatoms, Brown Algae and what should I do, this is one algae I never had in the past.


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## Cinbos (Dec 8, 2012)

Yes it is. As for the moss, it will eventually acclimate and green up in the tank.


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

Yeah looks like diatoms. Will usually clear up by itself once the tank is completely established


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## jczernia (Apr 16, 2010)

Thank you guys, I hope you are right about this being Diastoms this weeping moos is ugly.


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## SouthernGorilla (Mar 22, 2012)

The Trigger said:


> Yeah looks like diatoms. Will usually clear up by itself once the tank is completely established


What if it pops up in an established tank? This looks exactly like what I'm fighting right now. But my tank is old enough it should be fully cycled.


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## puopg (Sep 16, 2012)

Diatoms can bloom even in an established tank if you muck with the substrate too much or something. That's what happened to me. I thought it was something else for 2 months thinking yea i am cycled for 4 months now. They just went away 2 weeks ago. Though i did a blackout and that pretty much eradicated them.


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## SouthernGorilla (Mar 22, 2012)

I'm scared to try a full blackout. But we have run two days now without turning on the lights. I don't know if the room light is enough to sustain it or not.

We bought a couple otos to clean it up because the internet said that would work and the internet never lies. But it didn't work. And we have two dead otos for the effort.


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## puopg (Sep 16, 2012)

Plants as long as they arent like melting, can handle a blackout no problem. When we ship plants, they can go for days without light. Algae gets hit way harder. Do not be afraid to try it. However since you have really reduced the lighting already, i am not sure as i have never tested with ambient light for a few days then blackout. I want to say it will be fine, but since i don't have experience, i cant say so. 

Otos are a bit difficult to acclimate and are very shy in low numbers. Also, they will not solve your issues, they are for maintenance and control. In this hobby, controlling algae is better than eradicating it. Amano shrimp will work as well.


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## SouthernGorilla (Mar 22, 2012)

We had things under control for 2.7 days. Then the brown stuff started appearing. Since I can't stop fiddling with the tank I have no idea what might have triggered it. Diatoms aren't algae though. So does a blackout work on them as well?

Since otos obviously don't work in our tank, what other options are there for control? I'm nervous about amano shrimp because they are expensive, don't breed, and even cherry red shrimp don't live long in our tank. But the apple snails, MTS, and ghost shrimp obviously aren't doing the job. With a betta and three cories our ten-gallon tank is already fairly well stocked. I worry that adding more fish could cause issues.

I've read about using hydrogen peroxide. But I tried it on a cutting I removed from the tank and it didn't froth up. So I'm not sure it would work. I'm not aware of any chemical solution that is safe for inverts.

P.S.
I just turned on the light to take a close look at the tank and feed the critters some bloodworms. There is noticeably less brown stuff today than two days ago. Whether this is due to the reduced lighting or just due to natural causes I do not know.


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## puopg (Sep 16, 2012)

SouthernGorilla said:


> Diatoms aren't algae though.


Yes, it is. Yes a blackout can help. To give you a reference point. I had brown leaves on my rotalas. 3 day blackout. Now they are all green.

You are trying to SOLVE your diatom bloom by adding these fish/shrimp/snails. However, you need to understand the underlying reason why you are getting algae. These livestock are great for controlling the algae like I stated before. I think its unfair to assume they can solve your problems. Yes they can, but there is no gaurantee. Also, say u add enough to eradicate all the algae. So wtf are they gonna eat after its all gone? Your gonna have to feed them all. 

H202 vs diatoms is probably not gonna work as diatoms have a shell of silica which is quite strong. Not 100% on this, perhaps someone can confirm if H2O2 works vs diatoms. Honestly either wait it out and stop WC, or blackout. Or add like 1000 amano shrimp . Your call.


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## SouthernGorilla (Mar 22, 2012)

puopg said:


> You are trying to SOLVE your diatom bloom by adding these fish/shrimp/snails. However, you need to understand the underlying reason why you are getting algae. These livestock are great for controlling the algae like I stated before. I think its unfair to assume they can solve your problems. Yes they can, but there is no gaurantee. Also, say u add enough to eradicate all the algae. So wtf are they gonna eat after its all gone? Your gonna have to feed them all.


We had all the same critters before the diatom bloom. The only thing we added to try and control it was the otos. If apple snails and ghost shrimp eat diatoms then it seems likely the bloom was caused by us giving them other things to eat. Maybe they ignored the diatoms in favor of bloodworms and algae wafers.


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## puopg (Sep 16, 2012)

SouthernGorilla said:


> If apple snails and ghost shrimp eat diatoms then it seems likely the bloom was caused by us giving them other things to eat.


I doubt that is the case. Diatoms typically will appear once and then you won't see em again. Of course, you can induce it liek by mucking up ur substrate a lot, but unless you are seriously overfeeding, i doubt that is your issue. Algae will use nutrients right? So why don't i get a bloom when i dose my fertilizers? On top of feeding my fish. Many others have shown that excess nutrients does not cause algae blooms. I have had over 100ppm of nitrate and still no bloom. When I removed half of my gravel underneath the aquasoil topping it, then i got a huge diatom bloom. 

And how can you be sure the snails and shrimp arent eating other micro algae? What forces them to only eat diatoms?


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## SouthernGorilla (Mar 22, 2012)

puopg said:


> Of course, you can induce it liek by mucking up ur substrate a lot,


There's the answer right there. When I read this sentence I instantly remembered when the diatom bloom hit. It was right after I bought the anacharis. When I brought it home I uprooted all the bacopa, separated all the plant bunches into smaller groups, and replanted the entire tank. I definitely mucked up the substrate a lot in the process.

Now that I know it will go away on its own just like every other bloom we've had I'll go back to normal.


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## puopg (Sep 16, 2012)

Good luck! If you really can't deal with it like me, just try the full blackout. You will not be disappointed.


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## SouthernGorilla (Mar 22, 2012)

Well I can't say it's fully gone away. But there is definitely less brown now than there was when I first saw this thread. You never get rid of algae completely. I think it's at a tolerable level now.

Is there any other invert that eats the stuff besides the amano shrimp? We just added a couple bamboo shrimp to our tank. I think they'll get the floating bits. I just have a hard time justifying the expense of the amanos. They aren't any bigger than ghost shrimp but they carry the premium price for being a boutique item.


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