# Brown Algae Frustration: Can anyone help?



## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

redbouche said:


> :help:I've had a 70G tanks set up about 8 months now. It's been planted for the last 2 months. And I've got some brown algae (diatoms?) that I can't really identify or get rid of. It's fairly slow growing. Takes maybe a month to go from a brown haze to a complete covering. It's on the glass, plants, everywhere. Once it completely covers a surface it's starting to get fuzzy or even hairy on some of the java ferns (though this may be a different algae). The moneywart are like an algae calendar. The bottom leaves are 2 months old and are completely covered. The top half dozen pairs of leaves are algae free. It's pretty hard. I've got a generic algae magnet that doesn’t' do a very good job of getting it off of the glass, but the magfloat will take care of it. However, it definitely doesn't rub off via casual contact. I've tried to rub it off of anubia leaves, but it requires scraping with my finger nail to make a dent, to the point that I'm sure I'm damaging the plant. I've got 4 otos, and they don’t' even seem to make a dent in it. They are definitely losing ground to it. I see them grazing on it, but I never notice them get any off. I put a adult bristlenose in, and he mysteriously died the next day. Seems like it's too hard to be diatoms, but I'm not an expert any ideas on what it is, or how to kill it?
> 
> Other Stuff to Know:
> -Low light about 1.3wpg
> ...


It sounds like diatoms to me too. They usually go away after a few months of tank setup. Another option you could do is Amano Shrimp. They LOVE to eat diatoms, Nerite snails would make quick work of it as well.


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## redbouche (Mar 31, 2010)

I'm not sure it's diatoms. They should just wipe off, right? These are pretty hard. They take considerable scrubbing with a magnet, and they are stuck to the anubias like glue. Is this common? Is there anything else they could be?


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## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

How old is your light in your fixture? I've noticed that older bulbs have the tendency to "help" diatoms form more rapidly.


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## redbouche (Mar 31, 2010)

Actually a new fixture. Bulbs are no more than a month old.


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## dmagerl (Feb 2, 2010)

Ever since I set up my tank I've been plagued by brown algae. Its definately not diatoms. I've had diatoms and they were a reddish brown. This stuff is dark brown, almost black, and starts out just like green dust algae, on the sides of the tank. Then it just blankets everything.

I've notice 2 things:
1. If I hit it with hydrogen peroxide or Excel from a syringe, the brown color goes away and it turns green. Diatoms never did this.
2. If I do a water change, the stuff that gets exposed to air as I drain the tank exudes a rusty red color that drifts away in the water when refilled. 

I'd hazard a guess its an iron reducing species of green dust algae, if thats even possible, due to the rusty red color when exposed to air.

Is this the same stuff as yours? Its driving me up a wall. The BN plecs go out of their way to avoid it.


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## redbouche (Mar 31, 2010)

Yeah, that sounds close. It started on the sides and now the older plants are really fuzzy with it. It's very dark brown, almost black. I thought it may be brush algea, but it doesn't really form on the edges of leaves first. It just starts thin and gets thicker and bushier uniformly over the surface of the leaf. maybe you have the same thing.


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## redbouche (Mar 31, 2010)

Dmagerl, did the excel or peroxide kill it?


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