Algae

[Gix]

Howdy folks
I have a 20 US gallon tank that's been up and running for around 4 to 5 weeks now. Nitrite and ammonia are staying at 0, and things are looking fine. However, on one decoration in the center of the tank, there's some kind of algae just taking over. I looked at the algae topic, but I'm still not quite sure what kind the algae is. It has coated the flat top of the decoration like a little fuzy carpet, and is brownish, maybe with a hint of burgundy. I can scrape it off fairly easily. My white clouds pick at it occasionally too. I'm hopeless at taking pictures of my tank, so I hope someone can tell from that description!

Any ideas?

 

[pica_nuttalli]

sounds almost like Red Algae, except for the "easily scraped off" part. what other fish do you have in the tank?

 

[Teelie]

Probably it's diatoms which aren't algae at all though they look much like algae and they're common in new setups.

 

[Gix]

Right now I just have five white clouds in there. I tried for the first time today to scrape the algae off; now there are a few lines of white showing through the brown. It came off in little bits, which the fish took little bites at as they floated around the tank.

I hope that it's just diatoms and not red algae...

 

[pica_nuttalli]

diatoms aren't fuzzy; they look more like a thin film or particulate dusting.

 

[Gix]

any ideas? Should I go ahead and just try to scrape it all off?