What type of algae is this?

[Hokieokieamy]

My tank is relatively new, and I ran it through the nitrogen cycle. I brought my fish over from my other tank and I can’t remember when this happened, but literally overnight I had this overgrowth of algae. At first I thought brown algae but it doesn’t really come off that easy but I’m thinking that’s maybe because my ornaments have crevices which make it hard to reach. It’s not fuzzy like black beard pictures I’ve seen. So is it diatom? It hasn’t affected all of my ornaments, for instance, my artificial coral is large and it’s really only affected the top of it where the light is hitting it. I have an air pump in my tank too I thought it was getting adequate water flow. I also just recently got a new filter, the aqua clear fluval one, which I’ve heard is better than the one I had.

 

[Hokieokieamy]

Oh and also, I don’t know if this will help but my molly loves eating it. She’s constantly there munching away

 

[Colin_T]

It just looks like brown algae and is nothing to worry about.

Mollies need plant matter in their diet so if they are eating it, that's great.

 

[howard_hopkinson]

Brown diatoms tend to appear in most new tanks. Although they are unsightly they are nothing to worry about and will eventually disappear as the tank matures. If you want to get rid of it quicker, then a few Nerite snails will make short work of it.

 

[Hokieokieamy]

Thank you guys! About how long does it take to clear up and is there a way to speed up the process?

 

[Colin_T]

It can take a month before a tank settles down or it can take 6 months.

Put some live plants in the tank, feed the fish, do water changes and just let it run.