Brown Dust

[Michelleuk]

hi

just come back from a week away and found the tank floor and glass covered in a brown dust.

Its a new tank be running for about 4 weeks.

any ideas?

 

[my fat fish]

damn added alot of fish 2 ur tank very fast ther for it only being up for 4 weeks...

 

[Michelleuk]

I only have 5 in the new tank

2 mollies and 3 danios.

 

[sussexgirl]

I only have 5 in the new tank

2 mollies and 3 danios.

Is it brown algae Michelle or does it actually look like dust? I would plump for the former, give it a good gravel vac, algae scrape and water change and see how you go for a few days. Good luck!

 

[Michelleuk]

can algae harm fish.

going to move the 4 cardinals over tomorrow. What do u think?

 

[my fat fish]

fish are normally alright with algae i supose 2 much algae can start 2 be a nusence

 

[Michelleuk]

It does look more like brown dust than algae. although i not sure what brown algae looks like. I have only ever had green algae.

I shiponed the tank but the brown dust would only come off when i used a brush on the stones.

 

[Spinal]

It does look more like brown dust than algae. although i not sure what brown algae looks like. I have only ever had green algae.

I shiponed the tank but the brown dust would only come off when i used a brush on the stones.

Is it slimy/slippery when you touch it? If it is, its probably algae. Remedies can be a good cleaner crew (snails, shrimps, etc), scraping or chemicals....

If its not slimy/slippery, then its probably dust. What substrate do you have? What ornaments? Is there anything that can decompose/crumble or otherwise disintegrate to release dust?

Michele

 

[Lost Cause]

On the face of it, it very much seems that you have a brown algae outbreak - very common in a new set-up.

I had a similar thing after four weeks, and was likewise unsure if I was actually looking at algae at all. Everywhere just looked like it needed a good clean or dusting, rather than it being a living thing.

I took some advice and added some little ottos to the tank. They love the stuff and went around hoovering it all up, as if commanded to do so. They keep it totally under control and are fun into the bargain too (without getting as big as a plec).

I have since added shrimps and nerites (which seem to love eating off the bogwood in particular ), but nothing gets it off the plants as effectively as the cute little ottos.