Brown dust like algea - Aquarium Advice

bumblebee1976 · 06-20-2009, 08:18 PM

I have had a brown dust like algae on the bottom third of the acrylic surface since setup (beginning of April), which seems worse after a water change. It is also settling on other areas of the tank but is not long like hair algae - is it likely to be diatom algae? It does wipe off easily but I just wondered what it was.

**melosu58** · 06-20-2009, 08:33 PM

I moved your question to it`s own thread. It`s kind of hard answering to two people in the same thread. Thanks for understanding

bumblebee1976 · 06-20-2009, 08:38 PM

Oh sorry - I didn't realise, since it was a related post I thought it went on the same thread. I stand corrected - thanks.

**roka64** · 06-20-2009, 09:11 PM

It does sound like diatoms, but without a pic, that is just a guess.

**melosu58** · 06-21-2009, 02:29 PM

Sounds like diatoms. You say it does worse after PWC`s. What type water are you using? RO, Tap, Distilled or RO/DI?

bumblebee1976 · 06-27-2009, 10:07 PM

Hi melosu, sorry for the delay in replying - I usually get prompted when there is a reply but for some reason I didn't this time and haven't been onto the site to check this week. The water I use is all RO. I have noticed some drop shaped brown marks appearing now aswell, this is the first time I have had this. I imagine it's due to the light especially as we are at the peak of summer here in England!! It's not a problem and wipes off easily, I just have to avoid crushing the spirorbid worms at the same time, which can be a little tricky

Got a water change planned over the next few days so I will remove it then. That's if I can safely do the water change with a stressed feather duster worm in the tank - arghhhh. Have posted another thread about that on the sick fish forum!! Do I need to use a new cleaning cloth at every water change? Thanks for your continued help.

thincat · 06-28-2009, 01:27 PM

Just rinse it out good after each use. How long are you running your lights?
The length of time the lights are on plus the amount of food is more then likely bringing on that diatom bloom. Think of it as a right of passage, In time with proper feeding and lights it should go away.

bumblebee1976 · 06-28-2009, 03:08 PM

Thanks thincat - I will reuse them. The light is on a permanent moonlight and 8 hours daylight per day. I did wonder what the phosphates were like but as yet haven't noticed much hair algae and that has been my sign in the past of high phosphates. Maybe it is also controlled by cuc, the last tank was a tropical one and I was using tap water. The problem I've got is getting the clown goby to eat - I would ordinarily be feeding less often and less in terms of the amount but he seems so thin. We are going away and I'm leaving him to be looked after by someone who doesn't have experience of fishkeeping so I will have to cut the feeding back then to prevent the person overdoing it. He may not survive that but I'm weighing up how much I can trust the person to feed just the right quantity with risking params by allowing her to feed a lot. The fact that my ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are all at 0 must mean that the food is not endangering those main params but I guess it could be causing algae. I feel like I'm caught between a rock and a hard place to be honest!

thincat · 06-28-2009, 04:18 PM

You're doing a great job and I'm sure things will go well. Have a nice trip.
If you were not going away I was going to suggest that you put the gobie in a QT to fatten him up. You might do that when you get back.

bumblebee1976 · 07-02-2009, 11:40 AM

Thanks for the encouragement - I am trying hard but I have not got a quarantine tank. I did consider taking him back to the store because they took another back (my current one's companion which he was terrorising!!). They were putting him into a nano qt. I'm not sure I want to part with him, and he seems to be looking better now but what would you recommend my neighbour to do regarding the feeding when we go, which btw is on 20th July? Sorry, I didn't make that very clear!! Thanks again for your help with this and the other post on the feather duster. Things seem to be going from bad to worse on that one.