[MYGrace924]

Started this tank 8 months ago and suddenly got infested with this algae. Ive been rubbing off the algae from the leaves and doing 70% water change every 2 days for a month already, but it still coming back.

10G tank
Lighting :20" Finnex Stingray 8hrs photoperiod
Ph: 6.0
KH: 3
GH: 7

Dosing regime 6x a week
Flourish Nitrogen 1.4ml
Flourish Phosphorous 3.6ml
Flourish Potassium 1 ml
Flourish 0.2ml

 

[MYGrace924]

BUMP

Anyone?

 

[azazan]

co2?

 

[MYGrace924]

co2?

oh sorry totally forgot. i have 2 diy bottles running with a cerge reactor. when degassed ph is 7.6 and with co2 ph is 6.0 or lower. i test with api test kit and the chart dont show lower than 6.0 ph.

 

[SNAXX]

From what I've read Brown Diatoms can appear in a newly set up tank well into or over a year. It could be direct sunlight causing it. Is your tank in direct sunlight? Brown diatoms can also be caused by high levels of silicate/phosphate in your water. If you're using tap water it is entirely possible that your water company adds phosphates to your water. Certain substrates will leach silicates into your water as well.

I looked up this info becuase I started to get a few patches of it on my substrate. Now it looks like it's going away naturally. I'll probably still end up investing in a silicate and/or phosphate test kit regardless. Here's a good article I found on the subject. This article is militant in it's outlook on eradicating brown diatoms, be warned lol

http://www.oscarfish.com/article-home/water/82-diatoms.html

You can google Brown Diatoms and find a wealth of information on the subject as well.

As you'll see in the article, if your tap water is the cause of the diatom outbreak, doing a 70% water change has a negative effect rather than a positive. You could be adding more phosphate/silicate with each water change, thus feeding the diatoms more and more.

 

[Silversea]

That does not look like diatoms to me. Looks more like percipitaded iron.

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[Straight shooter]

How quickly does it come back after you manually remove it? When you crush it in your fingers, does it smell foul?

I'm thinking possible red cyanobacteria mixed with some diatoms here and there..

 

[dukydaf]

Agree with Straight shooter . In some photos it looks rather purplish and similar to BGA. Can you remember what changed ?

 

[SNAXX]

Check this article out, A lot of good info there.


http://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2008/04/aquarium-algae.html?m=1

 

[MYGrace924]

From what I've read Brown Diatoms can appear in a newly set up tank well into or over a year. It could be direct sunlight causing it. Is your tank in direct sunlight? Brown diatoms can also be caused by high levels of silicate/phosphate in your water. If you're using tap water it is entirely possible that your water company adds phosphates to your water. Certain substrates will leach silicates into your water as well.

I looked up this info becuase I started to get a few patches of it on my substrate. Now it looks like it's going away naturally. I'll probably still end up investing in a silicate and/or phosphate test kit regardless. Here's a good article I found on the subject. This article is militant in it's outlook on eradicating brown diatoms, be warned lol

Diatoms. What are they and how can I get rid of them?

You can google Brown Diatoms and find a wealth of information on the subject as well.

As you'll see in the article, if your tap water is the cause of the diatom outbreak, doing a 70% water change has a negative effect rather than a positive. You could be adding more phosphate/silicate with each water change, thus feeding the diatoms more and more.

Where i live, we use bottled water for drinking purposes, tap water is unsafe for drinking. Last time i checked tap water had a GH of 25 and TDS was ~200, I had to switch to bottled water. The company that filters the water claims that it uses reverse osmosis tecnology. ive been using the same water since the beginning.

How quickly does it come back after you manually remove it? When you crush it in your fingers, does it smell foul?

I'm thinking possible red cyanobacteria mixed with some diatoms here and there..

i takes around a week for it to cover the leaves, i noticed that it affects only the older leaves. when i scrub the leaves some stay and is hard to to remove without damaging it. i tried smelling it, it had no smell. Couple of weeks ago i did some trimmings. I treated some stems with bleach/water, it didnt die.

Agree with Straight shooter . In some photos it looks rather purplish and similar to BGA. Can you remember what changed ?

Algae have a dark brown color. i am not really sure, but several things happened inbetween 3 weeks.

-increased co2 stressed the fishes (Cant stop DIY co2 at night ). Killed 1 oto(my only one), 1 rasbora died and 2 jumped out of the tank at night.

-A friend gave me some Java Fern, which i introduced to the tank without treating it first. After some time i did notice that the rhizome had the same dark brown color. The ferns came from a stable low tech tank with no visible algae. I thought that i could kill the algae with my heavily planted tank, instead it wiped out half of the plants.

-Had to leave my house for 3 days and left the tank care to a friend. He said he didnt dose nitrogen and only once dosed 1 ml of flourish trace. First i thought it was toxicity, because the leaves looked burned.