Diatoms

[Zolek]

I'm having trouble with diatoms (brown algae). They're growing as a thin, easily removed, brown dusty layer on all the plants/glass/rocks/wood and even on the gravel. A quick wipe of a sponge takes them all off no problem but they grow right back in about a week. I've got 4 Otocinclus in the tank (29 gallons) and they seem to be eating/pooping constantly but the stuff still grows all over everything. The tank is over 4 months old and I was under the impression this problem was supposed to go away on its own in less time than that. I do roughly 35% of water change every week.

Any suggestions?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Does the tank have any lighting, and if so, what strength is it?

 

[Zolek]

17 watt stock light over 29 gallon tank.

 

[Squidman]

how abt putting in some algae destroyer. It worked great against my algae problems. It is knonw to the state of calafornia ro cause cancer if swallowed or sometimes touched so wear rubber gloves with no holes if u try this.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Don't use any chemicals.

You may want to contact your water company and ask about what kind of silicate and phosphate levels are normal for your local tap water. You can get phosphate removing filter inserts, but they exhaust quickly and thus may be a pricey option.

As for the problem going away on it's own...from what I understand it can take up to a year for it to go away. The low lighting may have something to do with it as well. Is your tank planted? My otos were losing the battle to brown algae until I set up a CF floor lamp over the tank (which started some soft green algae), and then added some Anarachis (which quickly out-competed the green algae). There is still some brown algae growing (my tank is ~3 months old), but now at a much more controllable rate. Lighting increase is sometimes considered a way to combat diatoms, but in my experience that alone didn't have much affect...maybe the additional lights I had supplied weren't enough. The addition of fast growing plants did seem to help a bit however. (Of course could just be co-incidence or combination of factors)

 

[Zolek]

Its lightly planted with some slow growing Anubias / crypts but even those are struggling in such low light. Planning to move them to a much higher light tank soon. For all intents its not planted since the plants aren't using a meaningful amount of nutrients.

The Otos are always busy they just seem unable to keep up. Their favorite area is completely clean but neglected regions brown over in about a week. Judging by how much the 4 of them keep clean I'd need about 25 Otos to keep the whole tank clean at this rate, which isn't going to happen for numerous reasons. Moving them and switching in a bristlenose is a possibility but I'm kind of nervous about how unsightly bristlenose waste is.

 

[Zolek]

Anyone?