# brown slime algae?



## copperleaf (Jan 1, 2008)

I have a new 90 gal setup about a month in and have this terrible brown slimy finger like algae all over everything. It showed up 2 weeks ago. It's in the darker spots and the high light spots. It's in the fast moving water and the slow moving water. It's very easy to clean but makes the water a soupy brown when I do. I've changed the water 50% 5 times in the past 2 weeks. The next day after I changed the water it's like I didn't clean at all. The plants seem to be doing fine and they are bubbling away. The only thing I've added is a small amount of potassium and iron and some root tabs. I have pressurized co2 and a lighting schedule of 10 hrs of 130 watts and a noon blast of another 130 watts for 2.5 hours. no3 is 5, n02 , nh3 and po4 are 0. I keep the ph at about 6.8 and the kh tester I have says its at 10 but I think it might be a bit off, it's over a year old you see. I haven't been able to get any clear answers about it although I read that reef tanks get the same type of thing, which doesn't help me much. I also tried some zorb in my canister to remove silicates for 10 days and no change. I'm hoping someone here can help me out with this.


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## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

The brown slime algae you are describing are most likely brown diatoms.

They are present in most new set-ups. Otocinclus cats will easily eat and clear it up in no time, it is almost their prefereed food. Presence of excess silica will promote this type of diatom for some reason. 

It's not that harmful other than poor aesthetics.


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## copperleaf (Jan 1, 2008)

Will it eventually go away on it's own and if so how long does it usually stick around for?
Also I have 2 other smaller tanks setup at the same time but not as well equipped and only a small amount of the other brown algae showed up which I easily got rid of. This is making me think I'm doing something wrong in my 90.
P.S. How many of those fish should I get?


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## loachlady5 (Dec 9, 2007)

dekstr said:


> The brown slime algae you are describing are most likely brown diatoms.


Agreed. Diatoms most likely.


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## copperleaf (Jan 1, 2008)

BTW Thanks for the info Dekstr and Loachlady5. I found an interesting article here.www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/algae/diatoms.shtml


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## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

NP.

When I first started fishkeeping, I just read skepticalaquarist all day long for one month straight.

Other than the plants section, the site is super super comprehensive. Good luck on the tank!


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## copperleaf (Jan 1, 2008)

Thanks again. Just a little update on my tank the day after reading the article. I increased my noon blast today by 3 hrs bringing it up to 5.5 hours and the diatoms have taken a severe beating. I cleaned the tank yesterday and changed 50% of the water. When I did this previously it had no effect and it was back full force the next day. Now it's only on a couple of plants and thats sporadic at best. I also added some iron and kent pro-plant. Hopefully I've got a handle on it and I'll update again with what I find in my tank tomorrow.


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## copperleaf (Jan 1, 2008)

It's 2 days since I did a partial water change and increased the lighting. The diatoms seem to be fighting back but nowhere near the rate they had before. I'm going to go pick up some Otto cats as advised and see if they'll get rid of the rest for me.


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