Brown diatom algae in the aquarium:
Every aquarium experiences a bloom of brown diatom algae at one time or an other. In most case, this is likely to happen at the end of the cycling phase or just after and may disappear as quickly as it arrived when the conditions stabilize after a couple of months.
Excess silicates
Brown diatom algae require silicates to grow. Silicate may be present in your tap water and may be the source of the problem. Many also believe play sand or other silica based substrate may trigger a Brown diatom algae bloom. Both Seachem and Salifert make silicate test kits so you might want to get one before to assume silicates can be the cause of the problem. If you find silicate in your water, you might want to test your tap water.
Excess nutrients & organics
The cycling period is a time where the water may contains high levels of organic carbons and No2 but low levels of No3 and Po4. Brown diatom algae seem to thrive in these conditions.
Excess iodine
Too much iodine in the water leads to brown algae. Check the label on any additives you use. Many contain significant amounts of iodine.
Brown diatom algae control
Water changes
A good maintenance routine and regular water changes will help lot. In established tank, if a brown algae bloom is followed by cyanobacteria, your problem is clearly due to dissolved organics compound in the water. If you maintain good water quality, in time (weeks to a few months) the diatoms are likely to die back or even disappear.
Manual removal
Brown diatom algae don’t have any firm attachment to the surface on which they are found so they clean off easily. A good way to control their growth is to remove as mush as you can during water changes. So do that, wipe them off.
Silicates removal:
If your water supply has moderate dissolved silicates (3-4ppm), you will likely see persistent diatoms in the lower-light areas of the tank. Using reverse osmosis instead of tap water can be a good way to fix the problem. Another way is to remove silicates with phosphate removers (they also remove silicates) such as Seachem’s PhosGuard, Metal Gone and Kent’s Phosphate Sponge.
Time is your ally:
As the tank matures, diatom problems tend to fade. Should such tanks have some major biological upset requiring frequent large-scale water changes, the diatoms may reappear. They should fade again when the tank returns to more conventional handling and upkeep.
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