Is this brown algae?

[accordztech]

Many people say this will go away after a few weeks, but I had it for a few months. Maybe since january. It wont go away. I tried more surface movment, more water flow, and no changes. I also tried moving the light higher. It sits on the rocks, and my wood, and on the glass in the back. If I put my starogene in my shrimp tank they clean it up within an hour, but how do I get it out of my tank? It seems to stunt the growth of the plant because in my shrimp tank it grows like there is no tomorrow.

This tank has been setup for a year now, and I dose a modified version of EI w/co2 and high light. But with the pictures I see of brown algae mine doesnt match this.

*Dont worry about the BBA, there is only 2 spores like that in the tank that im to lazy to get rid of*

[Noahma]

looks like it to me, does it rub off easily? And did you add anything to the tank that may contain silicates? once the silicates in the water are used up, the diatoms will dissapear.

[accordztech]

Its easy to rub off. Silicates, im not sure...im using silica sand though...

[Higher Thinking]

Originally Posted by accordztech

Its easy to rub off. Silicates, im not sure...im using silica sand though...

You just answered you own question...But you can get silicate testing equipment to see how high your levels are. Get some ottos!

[jasonpatterson]

All sand is silica sand. The silica in sand is not soluble in water at all. If it were sand would dissolve over time. In fact very few silicate salts are soluble in water and they're relatively easy to precipitate out. It's possible that you're adding silicates with water changes if you're using tap water and it contains silicates, but you wouldn't know that without testing the water.

If your water has very high silicates you might be able to see that via precipitation. Depending on the salts you have available to test it you'd drop a few crystals in a glass of your water and dissolve them completely. If you get a cloudy mixture or small particles/flakes falling to the bottom something precipitated out of the solution. For silicates I'd try something like Epsom salts or calcium chloride (ice melt salt.) Either one could form a precipitate with other ions in the solution, but in drinking water you'd be most likely to get MgSO4 or CaSO4.

[accordztech]

So is there a kit i can get locally to test for silicates?

It seems to take a little effort to rub it off of my plants

Also does high silicates pose a problem for fishes health wise? I noticed my fish are lazy and lame now.

The only thing i can think of that changed before this all happens was that my UV sterilizer went out. I ordered another bulb and it will be in this friday

[vespers_]

yeah that is it. i had it too, but only on certain leaves of a single plant. after i trimmed away those leaves, it went away and hasn't come back. the new growth doesn't have it. they say it is caused by silicates in your water.

[accordztech]

Its weird now its turning fuzzy just barley

I decided to clean one of my filters, eheim 2217. It was so dirty. There was black and brown gunk inside. Its only been 3 months since i cleaned it.

Do you guys think that this was my issue?

[scape]

I've heard Ottos are the way to go to remove this, not sure about the filter though, I clean mine monthly(although I could go a couple months no problem).

[accordztech]

I added some stuff to remove silicates, phosguard. It helped a little bit, especially when I put a clean plant in there. But the brown returned after a week.

Im tired of this brown stuff. It seems to stunt growth. Im strongly thinking about removing my sand all together.

[jart]

I've had an ongoing issue with this as well. A few months now. It seems to have an affinity for older leaves. I am using Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil as my substrate. It is a frustrating algae, as all sources tend to say that it is only an issue in new setups.

[accordztech]

Originally Posted by jart

I've had an ongoing issue with this as well. A few months now. It seems to have an affinity for older leaves. I am using Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil as my substrate. It is a frustrating algae, as all sources tend to say that it is only an issue in new setups.

yeah, its driving me nuts. Mine isnt a new setup, its been over a year! lol

[jart]

Originally Posted by accordztech

lol

No laughing matter!

But seriously , I'm almost to the point where I could care less. I'll have to tear the tank down in a few months anyway. For now, since i have a few days to keep an eye on the tank, I'll bump up the CO2 a bit, increase the surface ripple, and hope for the best. Good luck with your tank, accordztech

[accordztech]

Originally Posted by jart

No laughing matter!

But seriously , I'm almost to the point where I could care less. I'll have to tear the tank down in a few months anyway. For now, since i have a few days to keep an eye on the tank, I'll bump up the CO2 a bit, increase the surface ripple, and hope for the best. Good luck with your tank, accordztech

Thanks, good luck to yourself.

[IxIBluepitIxI]

Could try a 3 day black out I had diatom, thread, and fuzzy algae after the black out it's all got I started a better regime of dosing and haven't seen any algae since my MTS took out the little bit if fuzz on my java.
I think of the blackout like a reset button for aquariums. A blackout is a little easier than taking out all the sand too I have pool filter sand in my setup and I was on the edge of change out the substrate until I did the black out.