Algae Id / Tips

[baker360360]

Any ideas on what this is?

Involved
-50gal tank
-excellent filtration
-ammonia0-nitrite0-nitrate very very low.
- ph,kh,gh are high
-fish= tang cichlids
-also Amano shrimp and nerite snails.
-rocks= 25kg (tuffa/ocean/limestone/coral bone)
-substrate = white aquarium sand
-lights= juwel t5 unit. Up untill today I had 2x iquatics 50:50 t5s and had tin foil under lid. I've removed foil and exchanged 1 50:50 bulb with a juwel high lite day bulb.

Pics below.
.
Top pic you can see the colour difference between top and bottom of the rocks

Second pic I brushed with a toothbrush


Third pic not brushed

Notice the little circles should be white ( like pic 2) yet pic 3 show them to be a dark brownish green.


Also my lights are on 6-8 hours per day closer to 6 . And very little of none sunlight exposer.

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

Looks to me like diatoms.  Can you rub it off easily with your fingers?  How long has this tank been established?  Almost all of my tanks went through a diatom bloom after being established for about a month, sometimes two months.
 
If it is diatoms, your shrimp and nerites will eat at it, but they probably won't completely get rid of it.  If it is really bothering you, then you can scrub the diatoms off yourself.  Diatoms are harmless anyway.  If you have live plants, you might have to wipe them off the leaves though.  When your tank's chemistry settles down, it will go away.  In my tanks, the diatoms went away seemingly overnight after some time.

 

[baker360360]

Looks to me like diatoms.  Can you rub it off easily with your fingers?  How long has this tank been established?  Almost all of my tanks went through a diatom bloom after being established for about a month, sometimes two months.
 
If it is diatoms, your shrimp and nerites will eat at it, but they probably won't completely get rid of it.  If it is really bothering you, then you can scrub the diatoms off yourself.  Diatoms are harmless anyway.  If you have live plants, you might have to wipe them off the leaves though.  When your tank's chemistry settles down, it will go away.  In my tanks, the diatoms went away seemingly overnight after some time.

The tanks a few months old .some Filter media was moved in when set up so didn't need to go through all the cycling thing. Had a bit of a bacteria bloom a couple of weeks ago ( had a mini cycle pop up). Yes it wipes of easy.

With all this info is it most likely what you suggested?

 

[ech0o]

Yes, seems diatoms are directly related to silicates and phosphates in the water column.   The silicates some time can even be released by the substrate and tank decor, so naturally calm down after the tank has been established for some time.   There are other factors that can lead to increase in phosphates and silicates, and light is also a big factor.  How long are you running your lighting every day?
 
Frequent water changes can help as well, I noticed my diatoms cut back the first few days after a water change.  There are products like phosguard that will remove silicates and phosphates right from the water, although you should really go after the source of the problem so you don't have to run phosguard forever.

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

Frequent water changes can help as well, I noticed my diatoms cut back the first few days after a water change.

I too saw diatoms thinning out with water changes.  It won't rid the tank of it, but it'll slow it down.
 
Do you have any live plants?  I once controlled diatoms in a planted tank by dosing ferts normally, but doubling carbon.  The plants exploded and the diatoms went down to almost nothing.

 

[baker360360]

Yes, seems diatoms are directly related to silicates and phosphates in the water column.   The silicates some time can even be released by the substrate and tank decor, so naturally calm down after the tank has been established for some time.   There are other factors that can lead to increase in phosphates and silicates, and light is also a big factor.  How long are you running your lighting every day?
 
Frequent water changes can help as well, I noticed my diatoms cut back the first few days after a water change.  There are products like phosguard that will remove silicates and phosphates right from the water, although you should really go after the source of the problem so you don't have to run phosguard forever.

Lights usually 6 hours

BUT I think I know know what it is from what you just said.....
Last week I had a thread on here about adding a cave. This cave is an exo terra xl cave ( fake rock) that my pythan has out grown. This has to be the reason as it's only been in a week.

 

[ech0o]

Eh with the tank only being a few months old, it is probably just an issue with a not totally established tank.   Leon is right though, carbon is a surefire way to get the diatoms to stop, works every time.

 

[baker360360]

Eh with the tank only being a few months old, it is probably just an issue with a not totally established tank.   Leon is right though, carbon is a surefire way to get the diatoms to stop, works every time.

I have carbon in my filters.

Most of the stuff in the tank are from my old tank. So apart from that exo terra cave all rocks and the glass everything else was from an established tank.

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

Sorry, not carbon filtration.  We meant carbon in terms of plant food.  I doubled my doses of Seachem's Flourish Excel, a liquid carbon source for plants, and the diatoms went bye-bye.

 

[ech0o]

Sorry, not carbon filtration.  We meant carbon in terms of plant food.  I doubled my doses of Seachem's Flourish Excel, a liquid carbon source for plants, and the diatoms went bye-bye.

Lol yea sorry should have specified, carbon as in co2, excel is not a friend to the diatoms lol

 

[baker360360]

Is it normal in this situation to see the water looking cloudy? Kinda like a bacterial bloom?

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

Did the cloudy water just happen spontaneously?  Or did you add something/change something and then noticed the water clouding?

 

[levahe]

This type of algae is caused by lights that that are too bright, the biggest clue is when the algae appears on the top of the rocks and not on the sides which are more shaded. Just like the first pic.
You have already taken steps to reduce your lighting intensity so you should see an improvement, a blackout can help get on top of it

 

[baker360360]

Did the cloudy water just happen spontaneously?  Or did you add something/change something and then noticed the water clouding?

It just appeared yesterday. I've had a bacteria blooms few weeks ago this looks different. Just wondering if it's to do with diatoms. Just tested water for ammonia and nitrates and it's good.

Could it be to do with food? I'm using a different brand of frozen bloodworm and they are much more messy than the others I used before. However I last feed these cubes around 12 hrs ago so think it would have cleared between meals and not build up.