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	Is this brown mass diatoms?
NowherMan6 Fish Master Posts: 1880 Kudos: 922 Votes: 69 Registered: 21-Jun-2004	Still having the algae problem in my 46, but it's mostly stuff like in the pics below. It doesn't look like anything else to me besides diatoms - it's brown, grows in clumps, can be easily removed with a gravel vac but isn't branchy or sticky like staghorn. If it is, that begs the question of why it's popping up now. This isn't a new tank, and I don't have a lack of light. Very confusing, but first I need help just getting an ID on the stuff... *Back in the saddle!*
Posted 31-Mar-2006 17:34
LITTLE_FISH *** Little Fish *** Master of Something Posts: 7303 Kudos: 1997 Votes: 670 Registered: 20-May-2005	Edited by LITTLE_FISH NowherMan6, To me it looks a lot like Diatoms. Can you pull it off easily? But on the other hand, it also could be regular threads that have dirt attached from cleaning the tank. I have this in my algae after I perform some replanting. Dirt gets stirred up, floats through the tank, and eventually gets caught in the algae. Did you do anything that could have upset the substrate recently? Ingo Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club
Posted 31-Mar-2006 18:38
NowherMan6 Fish Master Posts: 1880 Kudos: 922 Votes: 69 Registered: 21-Jun-2004	Thanks LF. This is how it grows in, what you see is what you get. I have stirred up the substrate recently to do replantings, but that's when the algae appears, it's not that it's already there but then particles get caught in it. So you think it's diatoms then? Do shrimp eat this stuff, what about otos? I'm also thinking of calling the water supply company to see if there have been silicates in the water lately. *Back in the saddle!*
Posted 31-Mar-2006 19:11
mattyboombatty Moderator Tenellus Obsessor Posts: 2790 Kudos: 1507 Votes: 1301 Registered: 26-Mar-2004	If you have a nutricious substrate like flourite, and it gets stirred up, some of it will settle on plant leaves and other surfaces in the tank. Then algae will take advantage of the concentrated mass of nutrients. That's probably what you are seeing. Lesson(IMO): don't mess with the substrate. Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients
Posted 31-Mar-2006 20:05
NowherMan6 Fish Master Posts: 1880 Kudos: 922 Votes: 69 Registered: 21-Jun-2004	thanks matty... but I don't have flourite. I have regular inert black gravel, with a small mixing of laterite on the very bottom which hasn't seem the surface yet.. so it's nto from concentrated nutrients as you describe it. *Back in the saddle!*
Posted 31-Mar-2006 20:15
LITTLE_FISH *** Little Fish *** Master of Something Posts: 7303 Kudos: 1997 Votes: 670 Registered: 20-May-2005	Edited by LITTLE_FISH Do shrimp eat this stuff, what about otos? You know, it is excellent fry food as about 100 espei can validate. If it is diatoms then there must be a silica source for it. I don't know how gravel is polished, maybe it has something to do with it (and the stirring of the gravel). EDIT: Diatoms come off easily when pulled on. EDIT AGAIN: I will write about my again increasing algae issues in my weekly update. Ingo Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club
Posted 31-Mar-2006 21:37
NowherMan6 Fish Master Posts: 1880 Kudos: 922 Votes: 69 Registered: 21-Jun-2004	Well that's wonderful that fry eat the stuff but somehow I don't think that all my baby sparkling gourami fry can consume all that... It is easy enough to pull them off, the gravel vac just sucks them up. The problem is that they come back right away *Back in the saddle!*
Posted 01-Apr-2006 00:35
Wingsdlc Fish Guru What is this? Posts: 2332 Kudos: 799 Registered: 18-Jan-2005	Do some looking around but I swear someone else had this problem. 55G Planted tank thread 19G Container Pond [IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric
Posted 01-Apr-2006 02:28
Dr. Bonke Moderator Posts: 367 Kudos: 215 Votes: 36 Registered: 15-Apr-2004	get a couple of black mollies they seem to love that stuff. When I first set up my tank I had it also coming out hard, I added three mollies and in the space of 2 days it was all gone. Since then I have no more trouble with Diatoms (plenty with staghorn though)
Posted 01-Apr-2006 09:47
tetratech Ultimate Fish Guru Posts: 4241 Kudos: 1074 Registered: 04-Nov-2003	Edited by tetratech Pretty sure yamato shrimp and otos will go to town on that stuff. Don't bother with the ghost shrimp. Yamatos are definitely stronger and bigger work horses as far as eating algae. Looking at the pic of the brown algae on the wisteria makes me belive there is too much waste floating around in the water column. Isn't the wisteria growing well? You shouldn't be getting algae on a plant that grows that fast. My Scapes
Posted 01-Apr-2006 18:14
Calilasseia Ultimate Fish Guru Panda Funster Posts: 5496 Kudos: 2828 Votes: 731 Registered: 10-Feb-2003	If you are having a diatom plague, Otocinclus will chomp their way through it merrily. In fact, it might be a good idea to start cultivting that stuff so that you can set up a special species aquarium for Otocinclus with a view to breeding them ... Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002
Posted 13-Apr-2006 23:35
NowherMan6 Fish Master Posts: 1880 Kudos: 922 Votes: 69 Registered: 21-Jun-2004	Thanks Cali. I added a number of otos yesterday, acclimating them extra slow. True to form, I found one dead this morning. Their behavior to this point worries me, as they're spending a considerable amount of time just hanging on the glass near the surface of the tank. I don't think even one has ventured down into the plants. I left the lights off today to limit the stress, but perhaps the CO2 is bothering them? Look forward to seeing them when I get home today to look for any progress. *Back in the saddle!*
Posted 14-Apr-2006 16:27


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