Odd Growth in Tank

[Monkeyboy0]

I have been keeping a 29 gallon tank for around a month now with a Black Moor named Molly. I was preparing to get some more fish when the tank became really dirty very quickly. I was confused because I had done a 10 gallon water change and cleaned out the tank as much as I could about a week before the tank developed the problem. I am not sure what it is because the water is clear, but the sides of the tank and the gravel at the bottom are covered in a growth that is brown, almost looking like rust. On top of it all, apparently there were some snails on the plants I got about 2 weeks ago because now I have at least 5 snails in my tank, which caught me off guard because I didn't see anything for that 2 week period I had gotten the plants. I have decided to leave them in there for now because they seem to be eating the growth. I also removed some bamboo I had in the tank because I am pretty sure it was dead, and it seemed the growth originated from it. My fish is fine, still eating, and not showing any signs of being sick, but I wanted to ask here what to do before taking action. Thanks!

 

[lanasfishies96]

Any pics?

 

[Monkeyboy0]

View attachment 1
It is all of those brown dots on the glass and gravel... Again, the water is completely clear, the growth appears to only be attaching itself to surfaces

 

[Monkeyboy0]

Oops here is the picture I meant to send

 

[EOGoldfish]

Looks like diatoms. It's common in newly setup tanks and will usually go away on its own. You can wipe it off the glass to get a better view. It shouldn't hurt anything

 

[Monkeyboy0]

Okay, I am glad it isn't harmful! Even so, it really doesn't look too pretty and was wondering if there are any tips on getting rid of it. Should I get a new filter?

 

[EOGoldfish]

It is caused by excess silicates in the water so a different filter won't do anything. I'd just wait for them to go away.

 

[Monkeyboy0]

Yeah... I found some sort of product to get rid of the extra silicates and was wondering if that would be worth my money and effort to buy, or if I should just wait it out?

 

[EOGoldfish]

I'm not really sure if it's worth it or not as I have never tried any products for them. If you really want them to go away you can try it and let us know how it goes.

 

[Monkeyboy0]

Yeah sure! I will most likely be going to my local fish store pretty soon so I will look there for something to help

 

[AssistedDecoy]

I have has diatoms for over a year, it might be worth it. I just clean everything and havent bought anything so i cant say it will work. I was told that if u over clean the gravel it causes more of a breakout and i found that to be true. I was also told that it could be to much light so i lowered the time my light was on and it didnt do anything. Good luck if u buy something let me know how it goes.