# Brown diatoms?



## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

My 55 gallon has been set up for 2 months now and i'm starting to lose a grip on the brown diatoms. Just before each water change, I go in and rub my fingers on all the surfaces with the algae so that it will exit the aquarium through the pump. After only a few days they always come back worse than before. The build up is beginning to get so thick my Rams are now taking bites out of it to see if it's something to eat (see first picture). :icon_conf Tank is cycled and I don't allow nitrate to rise above 10ppm. PH is 7.6, KH 12. Water changes are every two weeks as stock is very light until I find some Rummys & Harlequins locally. Uneaten food isn't a problem as every last morsel of leftovers are gone in 10 minutes time thanks to the corys. I'm using Current Satellite LEDs, full spectrum 8 hrs each day followed by the preset moon lighting at night. 

What can I do to get a handle on this unsightly algae?


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## foster (Sep 23, 2012)

Diatoms are cause by high Silicate in the water. You could test your tap water to see what the Silicate content is. To reduce it you can use RO water, or try one of the silicate/phosphate removers. It might dissipate on its own in time. Its happened before!!


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## dcutl002 (Apr 8, 2014)

I had something very similar to this. I purchased 8 Otocincluses and they love this stuff. They did a great job with it. I know you are not supposed to buy fish to remedy your algae problem, but sometimes you try everything and nothing works. Otocincluses need to be adapted to your water conditions slowly and usually half of them die...all 8 of mine lived and have been with me for about 7 months now. They do a real good job keeping the tank clean and LOVE planted tanks.


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## greaser84 (Feb 2, 2014)

New aquariums often leech silicates, which is what the diatoms feed on. Most often when the silicates run out the diatoms go away. Sometimes you can have a permanent diatom problem if your water source has a high silicate level. My tap water has somewhere between 8-15 ppm silicates in it, so in my low light tanks I always get diatoms. I switched to RO so I don't have that problem anymore. What I would do is just wait them out, let the diatoms consume the silicates in the aquarium and they should go away. You can check your water source for silicates there are test you can buy or contact your water company to see what their readings are. Nerite snails are excellent algae cleaners imo the best.


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## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

I'm using the Petco black sand, i'm not sure how high it is in silicates. Also, how do I check the silicate content of my water? I checked my cities water report and don't see it listed.

Also, this tank is primarily fake plants, though I have some wisteria and plan to add more. How well would an Oto do with silk and plastic plants? And finally, I have Seachem PhosGuard and API PhosZorb on hand. Would this help at all in keeping diatom levels down?


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

I don't think it's caused by silicates as I can get it even with very soft water. Something else is at play.

Are you adding fertilizers? Such as phosphates?


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## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

Solcielo lawrencia said:


> I don't think it's caused by silicates as I can get it even with very soft water. Something else is at play.
> 
> Are you adding fertilizers? Such as phosphates?


Nope. I have wisteria, but i'm not dosing ferts or adding root tabs. It gets nitrate and 8 hours of 6500k @ 0.5 WPG only. Even when I was dosing liquid fert and adding root tabs in my last planted tank, I was only sitting at 0.25 ppm phosphates... and that was during a hair algae bloom! It's gotta be the silicates as suggested, either from the water or from the new sand. I'm leaning more toward sand as my Dad's got 4 tanks of his own and he's not dealing with this in any of them. For what it's worth, he uses pool filter sand in his tanks and i'm using Petco brand.


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

So it's really doubtful it's the silicates. Since it's a new tank, two months, the microbial community hasn't stabilized yet. Wait some more and it should balance out.


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## PortalMasteryRy (Oct 16, 2012)

I've had this issue before and it was the water that was causing it. Very hard to trust my tap. One solution is either amano shrimp or otto's. The tank looks a little bare for shrimp so ottos might be the best choice. For a 55G you might need 6 or more. I would suggest keeping a good number to maintain the tank but you still need to find the source.


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## kidgrave (Feb 4, 2014)

I have dealt with brown diatoms, and it is really annoying. The easiest solution to fix this is to buy some Otocinclus catfish. They feed off the diatoms like if it's ice cream. They clean the glass and plants really fast.


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## luky (Jul 24, 2014)

these guys are NOT kidding!! get the ottos ...
this same exact concern was in my very first post when i joined the forums. i've usually always kept ottos but sold the ones i had when i sold my last tank set-up. so the new one went up without them. i got a bunch of suggestions to go and get the ottos and so i picked them up. I SWEAR in two days / three days tops, all that brown muck was GONE and i haven't seen it come back.


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Jan 16, 2013)

Very common with new tanks fresh or saltwater. It'll more then likely go away on its own like with so many others. 2 months old is still a new tank, and hardly established yet. I'd have a little patience, and wait another month to see if it goes away before adding more livestock out of just being inpatient.


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## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

Thanks guys, i'll keep up with maintenance and wait it out a while longer. If after 3 months it's still progressing then i'll pick up a few Otos.


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## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

I was considering adding a root tab to the base of the wisteria, but would that make my problems worse? Last thing I want to do is have nutrients leak into the water column and feed this problem.


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## kidgrave (Feb 4, 2014)

A user on this forum said that brown diatoms go away on its own. However, for me this has never been the case. If I got brown diatoms, and kept cleaning the glass and did no water changes, the diatoms wouldn't come back, unless I did a water change. I suspected that the brown diatoms would happen because of silicates in the water. 

Regardless if the diatoms go away or come back, the easiest way to get rid of it instead of having to do a lot of cleaning is to get Otocinclus catfish. They are inexpensive and really easy to take care of. A lot of people report that those fishes die fast when introduced to the tank, but that's because a lot of people don't know how to take care of them or how to feed them. You gotta make sure to keep them a little fast. You can feed them algae wafers; however, I feed my otocinclus catfish mostly zuchini, but once in a while spinach. Simply, heat up the zuchini in the microwave for about 35 seconds until it is blended, let it cool down, and then stick it in the tank somewhere between the leaves. I promise you man that these babies will make sure diatoms don't annoy you!


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## FatherLandDescendant (Jul 24, 2014)

StrangeDejavu said:


> I was considering adding a root tab to the base of the wisteria, but would that make my problems worse? Last thing I want to do is have nutrients leak into the water column and feed this problem.


Shouldn't affect diatoms at all.



kidgrave said:


> If I got brown diatoms, and kept cleaning the glass and did no water changes, the diatoms wouldn't come back, unless I did a water change. I suspected that the brown diatoms would happen because of silicates in the water.


If your tap water is high in silicates then yes they will come back, if not then with some time and water changes AFTER knocking them loose they go away on their own, even without otos.

However otos do well for more than just diatoms, they are highly recommended for a reason


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## kidgrave (Feb 4, 2014)

Fatherland, I agree with you. Are there any other animals besides Otocatfish that eat diatoms? I know my water is high in silicates because the diatoms come back when I do a water change. If I don't do a water change, the diatoms don't come back, lol.


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## FatherLandDescendant (Jul 24, 2014)

I don't know.


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## birbaliktanki (Jun 18, 2014)

i'm not familiar about your light but i had a similar problem before with brown algae w/c i discussed in a thread i created 2 months ago. i bought a lot of things, like silicate colorimeter, purigen, phosguard and reactor. silica level in my tank water was 14 ppm while tap water was 18 ppm. but what solved my problem was i replaced the lamps. i was using CFLs which were about 6 months old and i originally plan to replace them after 8 months. but because of the brown algae, i tried replacing the lamps on a staggered basis. within 2 weeks after i changed 2 bulbs, the brown algae started to disappear. i only used phosguard once and never used it again. my tank has been brown algae free for about a month now.


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## Fishnshrimp2 (Sep 13, 2013)

Bristlenose plecos eat it, they wiped it out of my 30g in 2 days when they were tiny(in bigger tank now), but they get much bigger than the otos. In some of my tanks it did go away on its own and in others I just kept it maintained by cleaning until it was just on the decor/rocks, then I'd place them in shrimp and snail/pleco tank and let them clean it


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## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

Thanks again guys, lots of great info. I think i'll pick up an Oto this weekend, i've always loved watching them do their thing.  The Zucchini idea is a good one too, everything in my tank hates it so he'd have it all to himself.


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## mattcham (Mar 7, 2014)

People forget that molly fish are also great algae eaters and will eat these brown diatoms. They are more hardy than Otocinclus and do not need to be fed zucchini to keep alive when all the algae is gone. If you are worried that mollies breed like rabbits, just get male mollies.


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Jan 16, 2013)

Call around to saltwater shops in your area, and see if they test silicate. A lot of shops do, you'll have a more definitive answer if its in your water source. Probability varies from geolocation to geolocation. I can definitely see someone from LA area such as kidgrave having high readings as the water is very hard from what I remember when living in social.


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## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

CrypticLifeStyle said:


> Call around to saltwater shops in your area, and see if they test silicate. A lot of shops do, you'll have a more definitive answer if its in your water source. Probability varies from geolocation to geolocation. I can definitely see someone from LA area such as kidgrave having high readings as the water is very hard from what I remember when living in social.


That's a good idea, i'll get it tested next time i'm out.

I was at PetSmart tonight picking up some plants when I noticed Otos were on sale for $1 so I couldn't resist. I bought the last 2 they had, gave them a 2 hour drip acclimation and they're now in a quarantine with some other fish. The tank hasn't had a water change in almost 2 weeks (< 10ppm nitrate) yet the diatoms are spreading like wildfire, so i'm leaning toward the sand as the culprit. This makes the most sense to me since none of the other tanks in the house are dealing with it and it's still pretty new. I'll post another update later, once the Otos make it to their permanent home and start munching away.


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## caique (Mar 16, 2012)

kidgrave said:


> Fatherland, I agree with you. Are there any other animals besides Otocatfish that eat diatoms? I know my water is high in silicates because the diatoms come back when I do a water change. If I don't do a water change, the diatoms don't come back, lol.


 I have L144 blue eyed plecos that will eat the diatom in a heartbeat for sale $5 each for 1 month olds. I put 5 of these guys in my 120 when I had new tank syndrome and it was spotless in 5 days.


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## amcoffeegirl (May 26, 2009)

I know bristlenose are awesome. I redid a tank that had been no substrate and housed goldfish. I added substrate and live plants and rehomed the goldfish. The baby bristlenose cleaned all the brown algae in 2 days and have doubled in size it's a 36 gallon but I now love them.


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## mattcham (Mar 7, 2014)

I have another anecdotal observation regarding the cause of brown diatom algae. I have 6 aquariums all containing just livebearers and corydora. Only two tanks ever have diatom problems and it is always the two tanks that are most lightly stocked. People always mention silicates in tap water but all my tanks are same age same tapwater but only 2 are always plagued by diatoms. Something about a moderately stocked tanks prevents diatoms. What could it be? Interaction between nitrate and silicates?


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## mattcham (Mar 7, 2014)

Also when I move fish around between tanks, the new understocked tank becomes a brown diatom haven.


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## PortalMasteryRy (Oct 16, 2012)

mattcham said:


> I have another anecdotal observation regarding the cause of brown diatom algae. I have 6 aquariums all containing just livebearers and corydora. Only two tanks ever have diatom problems and it is always the two tanks that are most lightly stocked. People always mention silicates in tap water but all my tanks are same age same tapwater but only 2 are always plagued by diatoms. Something about a moderately stocked tanks prevents diatoms. What could it be? Interaction between nitrate and silicates?


It could be that the silicate source is still there but your stocking on the other tanks are keeping the diatoms away. Every time I did a water change with my tap I get the diatoms the week after. The only time it stopped was when I had a surge of algae eaters which I got for the GSA/GDA or when I used distilled water. 

BN plecos are amazing too. They will take care of GSA/GDA too. The only problem is BNs are to lazy cleaning the algae in hard to reach places. It seems only ottos have the precision to get in those tight spots.


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## cjstl (Mar 4, 2013)

I had horrible diatoms in my 4G View. Horrible. I added two nerites that didn't do much of anything, and then one of them died. I finally took the lid off, cleaned the sides of the tank with a toothbrush, removed as much dead plant matter as I could, added a 7W LED, did a 60% WC, and added an Azoo Mignon 60 filter that was just filled with polyester floss. 

Once the water cleared up a bit, I bought eight ghost shrimp and put them in there. Never really saw ghosties eat algae before, but figured they would clean up some of the dead plant matter and add a little bioload. Man, have they gone to work though! Between them, the remaining nerite, and a single ramshorn snail that I threw in there, they have cleaned the substrate, the rest of the tank walls, and all the diatom-coated leaves. My tank is now sparkling!


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Jan 16, 2013)

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatom
http://westerndiatoms.colorado.edu/about/what_are_diatoms
http://tolweb.org/Diatoms/21810


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## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

Just thought i'd post an update: It's been exactly a month since I made this topic and i'm still fighting the good fight. I bought some Otos which were in quarantine for 4 weeks. One of the two died, but the other is finally in the tank and is doing some *serious* work. I plan on picking up some more, but i'm shocked at how much just a single Oto can clean in a 55 gallon.

Also, my 10 gallon is struggling with diatoms now. What's weird is the tank was set up the same week my 55g was set up, but didn't start having a brown diatom bloom until about 2-3 weeks ago. If it were leaching silicates from my sand, why would it take 2-3 months to gain traction? It's covering the sand, every wisteria leaf and about 20% of the glass is blurred/obscured with the diatoms. I don't see any link or anything that would even explain it. Unfortunately, it's a betta tank so I can't add Otos or shrimp unless I want to find them dead the next morning. :/


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## FatherLandDescendant (Jul 24, 2014)

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=723809


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## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

FatherLandDescendant said:


> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=723809





> Diatoms are also unique in their life cycles as well, they live a “bloom and bust” life cycle, this life cycle is dependent on the available nutrients needed for growth. The three main nutrient components that have been shown to affect diatom cycling are Nitrate, Phosphate, and Silicate. I have not found many studies in regards to Micronutrient studies of any effect with the exception of Iron and its impact on silica uptake which can affect the life cycle span. Heat and light also contribute to diatom growth, both of which can be found in the home aquarium in abundance.


What I find interesting about this is they're thriving in a tank where nitrates never go above 10ppm, phosphate is 0.25ppm and silicate unknown. I don't dose iron, and my lighting is extremely low, with an estimated PAR of <20. The only thing it may have in its favor is the heat, which is 81.5°F. Confusing stuff, it is.


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## FatherLandDescendant (Jul 24, 2014)

StrangeDejavu said:


> What I find interesting about this is they're thriving in a tank where nitrates never go above 10ppm, phosphate is 0.25ppm and silicate unknown. I don't dose iron, and my lighting is extremely low, with an estimated PAR of <20. The only thing it may have in its favor is the heat, which is 81.5°F. Confusing stuff, it is.


But it should resolve itself. My diatom problem lasted 3 months:confused1:


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## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

Update: Things are looking good! I've changed some stuff lately so I can't be sure what did it, but i'm starting to see a large decline in the brown diatoms. About a week and a half ago, I broke down both 2213's and cleaned them profusely. While they were torn down I added a pouch of Purigen to one and hooked everything back up. I also added about 10-12 large stems of wisteria, and 5-6 cryptocoryne wendtii plants. That same day I started adding Flourish, which I haven't done before. There's a single Oto in the entire 55g, and while he is certainly helping, I can't see him cleaning house that fast. Could it be the Purigen, the Oto, the growing plants or just a tank that's maturing? No clue, it's getting better and that's all I care about. :bounce:

Here's a before/after:


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## FatherLandDescendant (Jul 24, 2014)

Growing plants + oto + WC + time


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