Rust colored deposits

[lildragonflies]

Hi! Thanks for having such good advice on here. Is very helpful. So I am hoping some can help with this question. What is that rusty colored deposit that settles on my foliage and sometimes the glass? It easily comes off most of the stuff in the tank but makes the leaves look aweful!

 

[hdultra]

They are diatoms. How are you lighting the tank? They are normal, and found in almost every tank, but can be especially bad in newly setup tanks.

It won't hurt your cycle to clean it off your decor/glass. You can use a toothbrush or something like that to remove it.
_________

You really cannot entirely "stop" the growth of any algae, green brown, or red, but with some good tank management practices, the rate of algae growth can be reduced. There is no such thing as an algae-free aquarium. An aquarium that never gets any algae growth is probably not a healthy environment for fish. Algae should never be controlled through the use of chemicals. Most algae-control chemicals work by inhibiting the reproduction of algae, and may also inhibit the growth of plants and beneficial bacteria. We have seen some disasterous results caused by over-use of algacides. These chemicals should only be used to get rid of green water or very bad algae problems, then good tank management alone should be used to prevent re-occurrences. It is important to remember that algae is a "plant-like" organism. Unlike a plant, it has no true roots, stems or leaves. Like a plant, it needs plenty of light and nutrients to grow (it already has the water). The first thing to look at is light. Aquariums should never be placed where they can receive a lot of direct or even indirect sunlight. Tank lights should be on no more than ten hours. The next factor is nutrients, and in aquariums, this means controlling nitrates and phosphates. Regular water changes and good filtration are important to eliminate nutrients. Vacuuming the gravel in a tank when doing a water change, removes many organics that decay into basic nitrates and phophates. A 25% water change every three to four weeks, or 10% a week, will help control the build-up of nutrients. As most city tap water contains phosphates, using reverse osmosis, distilled, or deionized water will also help. Using phosphate and/or nitrate removal media in a canister or power filter is also helpful. Water motion will also inhibit algae growth, as algae spores cannot settle and take "root" in an aquarium that has good circulation. Using small submersible pumps or powerheads in a tank, in addition to the regular filters will help add extra circulation to any aquarium.

 

[lildragonflies]

They are diatoms. How are you lighting the tank? They are normal, and found in almost every tank, but can be especially bad in newly setup tanks...."

This is great. Thank you so much. My tank has a flourescent bulb across the top and very little indirect sun. Ok. So its algae. I wanted a pleco to help control the algae, but I have two concerns with that. 1. I had two plecos and my new tank killed them both. I think it was due to the aquarium salt (even though the package said it was for fresh water as well as salt aquariums. Should I wait to add them after I do a few pwc's sans the salt? And 2. Is there a specific pleco that eats the red algea or does it matter? .. The two that died one was an albino and the other was a rubber lip.

 

[hdultra]

Post your water chemistry values:
Ammonia
Nitrites
Nitrates
ph

 

[tyspot1000]

Great advice from above! Good job hdultra!

 

[Tim Wheatley]

From my experience another major contributory factor to brown algae specifically can be overfeeding.

Great advice above, too.

 

[hdultra]

From my experience another major contributory factor to brown algae specifically can be overfeeding.

Great advice above, too.

That is very true.
I learned that with the help of Fort. And did a little research on it because I had the same problem.

 

[lildragonflies]

Post your water chemistry values:
Ammonia
Nitrites
Nitrates
ph

I just tested this a.m.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrates: about 20
Nitrites: .5
Ph: 8

 

[lildragonflies]

I just tested this a.m.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrates: about 20
Nitrites: .5
Ph: 8

My test strips are color coded so they're aproximate values.

 

[hdultra]

I just tested this a.m.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrates: about 20
Nitrites: .5
Ph: 8

That looks pretty good to most of the readings we see here.
Looks like your close to a water change. You can clean that stuff off your decor if you want to. It won't hurt anything. Looks like maybe your tank may have recently cycled ? I still have it on my decor in one of my tanks. My next water change, I'm going to clean it off with a brush. No Chemicals. Hope I was able to help bro.

 

[tyspot1000]

My test strips are color coded so they're aproximate values.

Dont ever use test strips, they are highly inaccurate, Use a liquid test kit (Preferably The API master test kit), they are better than strips. For right now, follow your test strip results and Do Partial water changes a few times a week to get your nitrite down for the fish.

 

[hdultra]

Dont ever use test strips, they are highly inaccurate, Use a liquid test kit (Preferably The API master test kit), they are better than strips. For right now, follow your test strip results and Do Partial water changes a few times a week to get your nitrite down for the fish

I Agree totally with that.

 

[lildragonflies]

That looks pretty good to most of the readings we see here.
Looks like your close to a water change. You can clean that stuff off your decor if you want to. It won't hurt anything. Looks like maybe your tank may have recently cycled ? I still have it on my decor in one of my tanks. My next water change, I'm going to clean it off with a brush. No Chemicals. Hope I was able to help bro.

Yes absolutely. Ty. What about the plecos? Do you think the aquarium salt killed them? Should I wait till I do more wc before getting another? Is there a specific kind that will rat the brown algae?

 

[lildragonflies]

I will do that. Thanks.

 

[hdultra]

Yes absolutely. Ty. What about the plecos? Do you think the aquarium salt killed them? Should I wait till I do more wc before getting another? Is there a specific kind that will rat the brown algae?

The brown algae will eventually go away by itself. As far as salt goes I dont know if was the killer. Do you have a kh Test kit and gh.

And why are you adding salt? Just wondering. If you add to much to fast it could shock the fish. But i can't really tell they died from that.
Allot of people here won't put salt into their fresh water tanks.

I use it because of gh and kh levels that my cichlids like. And it brings out the color in them.

 

[hdultra]

You going to want to do a pwc to get the nitrites down to 0 ppm anyway.
You may want to wait until you have established a complete cycle before adding more fish.

 

[tyspot1000]

Yes absolutely. Ty. What about the plecos? Do you think the aquarium salt killed them? Should I wait till I do more wc before getting another? Is there a specific kind that will rat the brown algae?

The salt could have possibly killed them, or , depending on your parameters, ammonia or nitrite could of killed them.

I would wait for a little bit before getting any more, Also get a smaller species next time, such as a Bristlenose pleco (They get 5-6"), also dont get multiple bristlenose, they get very territorial towards each-other and their bristles can get tangled up when fighting.

The common plecos get 18-24 inches and need 100+ gallon tanks (Depends if you have that big of a tank, How big is your tank?)

 

[Osage_Winter]

I have been battling brown diatoms for months on end -- they recently consumed my whole tank like a disease sweep. We got so sick of looking at them, we yanked all the ornaments and plants out, washed and scrubbed them down with hot water and brushes and returned them back to the tank. The water quality improved, and the ornaments and plants look semi-new again; there are still diatom patches which we could not get at such as on the bubble wands and in the gravel, but for the most part, they're all cleaned. This was an absolute nightmare though, and I could understand the frustration -- if these come back, I'm not washing all my ornaments and plants again though because that was downright BACKBREAKING. I have reduced feeding to once a day, but I am uncertain if sunlight or tank lighting contributes to the diatoms.

 

[Osage_Winter]

The brown algae will eventually go away by itself.

From what I have learned and my own experiences with these things, these don't go away by themselves -- my tank was getting progressively worse, and they were consuming everything over long months. I HAD to take the ornaments and plants out of the tank to clean them of the diatoms ALL OVER them, and return them to the tank in order to be rid of them.

I don't believe these go away on their own.

 

[hdultra]

From what I have learned and my own experiences with these things, these don't go away by themselves -- my tank was getting progressively worse, and they were consuming everything over long months. I HAD to take the ornaments and plants out of the tank to clean them of the diatoms ALL OVER them, and return them to the tank in order to be rid of them.

I don't believe these go away on their own.

You really cannot entirely "stop" the growth of any algae, green brown, or red, but with some good tank management practices, the rate of algae growth can be reduced. There is no such thing as an algae-free aquarium. An aquarium that never gets any algae growth is probably not a healthy environment for fish.

But general cleaning and physical removal is the only way to make it look better. Keeping the filters clean, not overfeeding, gravel and sand cleaning.
And water movement will slow the affects. It's just a part of fish keeping, and is going to be in every tank.

The brown diatoms will go away overtime, but then you going to experience other kinds of algae in some way or another. It just part of the healthy environment.