# Algae ID.. Diatoms? Brown Fuzz Algae..?



## Gundy (Oct 31, 2007)

By the way just some info:

Ammonia:0
NitrIte:0
NitrAte:40

I also just started dosing with Seachem Nitrogen this past week before I left, originally I had never used it due to the fact my Nitrates where around 20. Not sure if this has anything to do with it or not.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

I'm not sure what they are but they come off the plants really easily... Just manually remove and vacuum them.


What are all your ferts btw?


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## Spitfire_01 (Nov 17, 2007)

It's definitely a hair algae... Did you maybe over fertilize before you departed? High nitrogen could cause blooms, or even high iron sometimes springs up random algae blooms.

Regardless... Try putting in some Siamese algae eater, not CHINESE! The Siamese are smaller, non-aggressive, and usually eat that stuff up like Salad! I've had American Flag fish which too ate large amounts of hair algae, but these guys are pretty aggressive.


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## Gundy (Oct 31, 2007)

mistergreen said:


> I'm not sure what they are but they come off the plants really easily... Just manually remove and vacuum them.
> 
> 
> What are all your ferts btw?





Gundy said:


> I dose daily with the Seachem ferts, based on the schedule they provide on their website.



I will harass it today, its taking over everything and looks hideous. I don't think I over dosed, the only thing I did differently was use nitrogen. I haven't used it before.


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## Zaxol (Oct 14, 2007)

I have something that looks similar. I started to reduce lights, get some fast growing plants to absorb nutrients but it just got worse. Good luck.


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## Gundy (Oct 31, 2007)

Ok.. so anyone have any input on how to get rid of this crap? Or what it even is so I can figure out a solution on a algae website?


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## FacePlanted (Jul 27, 2007)

Maybe rhizoclum? I'm sure I'm butchering the spelling.

It's funny. I usually see posts about this algae from people with newly setup tanks. I have also seen posts/threads about this from people with neglected and/or polluted tanks - such as yours from being on vacation. I had what looked like this algae (brownish, slimy/greasy, easily removed/rubbed off/ siphoned away) when my tank was new. I think it was caused in my tank by high levels of dissolved organics and maybe from being coupled with higher ammonia levels - both of which were being leached by the new aquasoil. I think my tank needed to stabilize. And maybe yours needs to again also. Maybe it was disrupted by your vacation, and not being as closely maintained, fewer waterchanges, organic buildup, etc. 

I siphoned as much as I could with an airline tube, and did frequent waterchanges, while dosing full EI and adding as much co2 as I could. Make sure your circulation is ok also. Do a light trim if you need to, to get circulation better - but dont trim away too much, because you need your plants in full swing to help restabilize the tank and hold back the algae. Add some excel if you have any to boost plant growth and help hold off new algae while your plants/tank recover. Waterchange every 3? days or so and clean the tank with the airline real well. Take out any melting, rotting leaves/organic material and dont overfeed your fish/shrimp/etc. 

I think keeping the tank/water clean/not clean is a major cause/cure of this type of algae. Keep it clean, keep the DOC low, and give the plants what they need to prosper. I think nitrogen/nitrate (KNO3) will be beneficial to add for the plants. I dont trust my nitrate test kit (it sux bad!) so I just keep track of how much kno3 I add, and then I know I'm keeping it in check by doing regular waterchanges and watching my plant growth. I have 0 algae and do a rich EI dosing, but my co2 is pumping hard  , and my lights aren't burning super intense, and I have a strong pump pushing a lot of water around. I use a mazzei venturi injector to pump tons of co2 mist into the tank. It works better than anything I've tried to distribute my co2 mist.

Keep all these things in mind and you'll be able to knock this algae right back.

Good luck!


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## Gundy (Oct 31, 2007)

Thats for the input, yesterday I tackled the brown algae. Removing as much as I could by hand and then doing a decent water change to get it out of the tank.

This morning it looks alittle better, but now I have green hair algae on nearly everything. Its pretty frustrating considering the tank was doing great. And just a week if that did this..

EDIT: Cleared up, switched out a CO2 bottle - gravel vac'd the substrate a couple of times and trimmed some old plants. Couple days later all is well.


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