# brown algae (diatoms)?



## bennell (20 Feb 2015)

*Please* could someone tell me if the pictures attached are showing brown algae(diatoms)? Ive got a plant of attack but there is sooo much contradictory information on forums for methods of removal its driving me crazy.


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## Julian (21 Feb 2015)

Looks like it could be. Is it a new set up? Turn your lights down if possible.


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## MirandaB (21 Feb 2015)

Yes I would say they are diatoms,as Julian says common in new set ups and will usually go on their own as the tank matures.
I sometimes also get diatoms if I've done a bit of messing about in the tank and stirred things up but I actually want diatoms to feed my snails so it's ok


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## bennell (21 Feb 2015)

Tanks around 4month old, ive cranked up my co2 and circulation and ill knock the hours on the lights down to 6 from 8 i just needed to see with the poor pictures provided which type of algae i had, thank you!


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## Julian (21 Feb 2015)

Its not so much the length of light, but the brightness of it. Too bright will damage the plants and cause algae.


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## luckyjim (24 Feb 2015)

Thought I'd piggyback on this rather than start a new thread. I have a fairly new nano tank running and suffering the well-recognised diatom bloom in new tanks. My question is, will the diatoms do any real harm to the plants during the bloom? If they are covering the leaves, how often should I be wiping them off?

At the moment I am doing a 25 percent water change a day. Unfortunately I don't think shrimp are an option - I have a siamese fighter in there and the two glass shrimp I tested him with didn't last the night. I have ordered two nerite snails.


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## Julian (24 Feb 2015)

Diatoms are a product of having too much light. If you don't turn down your lights, they won't disappear. 

Plants will die if not kept clean.


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## luckyjim (24 Feb 2015)

Thanks Julian. So this is not just a difficulty because the tank is new, but an underlying problem?

If so, I will need to come up with some sort of solution for my light - its an eheim led attached to the filter unit so impossible (as far as I can see) to dim or move higher. Maybe some sort of screen over the lid?


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## Julian (25 Feb 2015)

Older tanks can deal with diatoms better than new ones. The idea that in a new set up, diatoms are guaranteed is wrong.

Sorry I can't advise you better on how to dim it, do you have any pictures of what the unit looks like? Maybe electrical tape over every other LED?


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## luckyjim (25 Feb 2015)

OK I thought I may as well have some sort of "light dimmer" anyway, so I went ahead and bought some fibreglass insect screen to block out some of the light. Apparently you can layer this as well to reduce intensity further. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331137916969?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Would still appreciate any advice on my query though: is the light necessarily too strong if I am getting a diatom bloom after the first month? Or will I need to wait until the bacteria has built up further before I can tell if the lighting is too intense?

Thanks


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## luckyjim (25 Feb 2015)

Julian said:


> Older tanks can deal with diatoms better than new ones. The idea that in a new set up, diatoms are guaranteed is wrong.
> 
> Sorry I can't advise you better on how to dim it, do you have any pictures of what the unit looks like? Maybe electrical tape over every other LED?



Sorry I crossed posts with you there!

Its just a little fluval chi (19 litre). The light is the Eheim 7w LED that is attached to the eheim corner filter. You can slide it up and down: but it is up as high as it will go. Here's the tank, a day after cleaning. Three days later lots of the java fern surfaces are coated in brown diatoms.

http://i.imgur.com/eq3x9Zs.jpg

Hopefully the insect screen will help. If not I think my options are limited!


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## Julian (25 Feb 2015)

luckyjim said:


> Sorry I crossed posts with you there!
> 
> Its just a little fluval chi (19 litre) Here's the tank, a day after cleaning. Three days later lots of the java fern surfaces are coated in brown diatoms.
> 
> ...




It's likely that your tank needs a little longer to establish the bacteria. Just keep the lights down for another 4 weeks using the insect screen, then gradually remove it every week to increase the brightness. If you start to see algae, go back to what you had 2 weeks before.


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## luckyjim (25 Feb 2015)

Thanks, I'll give it a go. Even though the plants (apart from the front two bits) are attached to removable wood rather than the substrate, it is a bit of a pain having to take everything out to clean it every week!


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## ian_m (25 Feb 2015)

Otto's will eat diatoms. Couple of weeks after starting my high tech tank, brown diatoms appeared, despite keeping light levels low. Bunged in a couple of Otto's and they scoffed the lot in a day or two. You could see the munched tracks through the diatom layer where they had been busy.

Or just leave, frequent cleaning and water changes and they will go away.


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## parotet (25 Feb 2015)

Hi

I got some problems with brown algae some months ago with this same filter/light Eheim combination (Aqualight + Aquacorner filter)... I finally realized that it was not a problem of light intensity (it is a low to medium light) but a problem of the filter design. The inflow of this filter is a large sponge (compared to the filter volume) that covers all the front and creates a very gentle inflow, perfect for shrimps. But the problem is that plant debris remain at the surface. You will have noticed for sure that when you remove the filter from the tank to clean it, lots of debris end up floating in the water. And sometimes when you switch on the filter again, some of the debris that were still on the sponge are released again. As a result a significant load of organic matter is always floating in your tank/subatrate/corners.

Frequent and very large water changes helped a lot (twice a week and sometimes changing 100% of the water... thus nearly two changes in one) but I finally changed the filter. Now I am running an external filter (JBL e401) which delivers a perfect flow and I can get rid of all the debris with just one weekly 50% WC. IMO it is a filter designed for having very few plants (not densely planted tanks) and shrimps. Or at least for advanced aquarists whose plants don't melt... Not impossible but you suffer quite a lot.

Jordi


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## luckyjim (25 Feb 2015)

ian_m said:


> Otto's will eat diatoms. Couple of weeks after starting my high tech tank, brown diatoms appeared, despite keeping light levels low. Bunged in a couple of Otto's and they scoffed the lot in a day or two. You could see the munched tracks through the diatom layer where they had been busy.
> 
> Or just leave, frequent cleaning and water changes and they will go away.



I'd like to put ottos in there but to be honest I don't like the idea of only putting one in, which is all the tank can realistically support, as they aren't happy unless in groups. Also even if I did put one in, the siamese fighter in there would probably end up bullying him to death!


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## luckyjim (25 Feb 2015)

parotet said:


> Hi
> 
> I got some problems with brown algae some months ago with this same filter/light Eheim combination (Aqualight + Aquacorner filter)... I finally realized that it was not a problem of light intensity (it is a low to medium light) but a problem of the filter design. The inflow of this filter is a large sponge (compared to the filter volume) that covers all the front and creates a very gentle inflow, perfect for shrimps. But the problem is that plant debris remain at the surface. You will have noticed for sure that when you remove the filter from the tank to clean it, lots of debris end up floating in the water. And sometimes when you switch on the filter again, some of the debris that were still on the sponge are released again. As a result a significant load of organic matter is always floating in your tank/subatrate/corners.
> 
> ...



Thanks Jordi thats useful. I haven't noticed that yet as the filter itself has only been in there for just under 3 weeks, and I've been avoiding cleaning it so as not to disturb bacteria as it establishes itself. I will keep an eye out when I remove it for cleaning. I am hoping there won't be too big a problem. Did you try running it with just the internal canister (they call it the "mediabox") and no sponge?


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## sciencefiction (25 Feb 2015)

luckyjim said:


> Thanks Jordi thats useful. I haven't noticed that yet as the filter itself has only been in there for just under 3 weeks, and I've been avoiding cleaning it so as not to disturb bacteria as it establishes itself. I will keep an eye out when I remove it for cleaning. I am hoping there won't be too big a problem. Did you try running it with just the internal canister (they call it the "mediabox") and no sponge?



To state my opinion, diatoms appear when the filters/plants aren't cleaning up the produced ammonia fast enough.
In your case it's just immature filter/tank and it's perfectly normal having diatoms at this stage.  The diatoms will stop growing once the tank matures but you'll have to wipe them/clean whatever has grown by then yourself as it won't fall off. Ottos and nerite snails do a nice job cleaning diatoms.


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## parotet (25 Feb 2015)

luckyjim said:


> Thanks Jordi thats useful. I haven't noticed that yet as the filter itself has only been in there for just under 3 weeks, and I've been avoiding cleaning it so as not to disturb bacteria as it establishes itself. I will keep an eye out when I remove it for cleaning. I am hoping there won't be too big a problem. Did you try running it with just the internal canister (they call it the "mediabox") and no sponge?


No, I always run it with the sponge and the mediabox... I didn't notice you had it for just 3 weeks. As mentioned diatoms can be there due to an immature bacteria colony, but try to avoid the problem I mentioned in the coming months, additionally to brown algae it is quite frustrating to have all this mess floating around each time you touch the filter, and in my opinion this filter should be cleaned quite often as the sponge gets clogged very easily. Even in my canisters in have a sponge in the inflow to prevent debris from entering to it, and I rinse the sponges twice a week... And believe me, they are plenty of debris.

Jordi


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## Christos Ioannou (13 Mar 2015)

Hi, I run my tank with white sand in some parts. The white sand is no longer white...
Just recently (4 months after the tank was setup) I started siphoning it clear (or mix it up maybe) during WC. 
Up to that point I did not have a diatom problem.
It was right after I siphoned it for the first time that the diatoms started showing up and take over my otherwise white sand.
To make matters (a bit) worse, I recently removed 7 flying foxes in an attempt to help my hair grass establish its roots without being constantly uprooted.  
Now, I keep siphoning the sand during WC and also rub affected plant leaves between my fingers to clean them up. 
*
My question is: *should I leave the sand alone and avoid disturbing it as this process leaches more silicates into the tank hence more diatoms, and simply give time to the diatoms to go away? 

Thanks


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