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Orange / rust colored algae

post #1 of 12
5/17/11 at 6:57pm
Thread Starter 
i recently upgraded from T-5 lighting to HQI. since that change I've had this orange rust colored algae going crazy. I have to wipe my glass with the magnet about 4 times a day, it build up fast. Its on my power heads and other plastic parts in the tank. Anyone have this problem before?
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post #2 of 12
5/17/11 at 8:30pm

Sounds like diatoms. Common if there is a big change in the tank, which lighting will do.

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post #3 of 12
5/18/11 at 5:17am
Thread Starter 
Is this something that will bloom and go away once its cycle is over?
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post #4 of 12
5/18/11 at 5:38am

Is it hard? Almost sounds like coralline to me. (growing on plastic parts made me think this as coralline loves it some plastic)

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post #5 of 12
5/18/11 at 7:39am
Thread Starter 
No its not hard like coraline, its soft almost slimey. It comes off quite easily.
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post #6 of 12
5/18/11 at 8:02am

have you looked at any pics of cyano??

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post #7 of 12
5/18/11 at 11:58am
Thread Starter 
I do not believe its cyano because I've had that before, it builds up on the glass in only a few hours, I wipe it off with the magnet and its back. I can tell its a rust color because I can see it accumulating on my power heads. It all started when I added my hqi's a week ago. Will it go away on its own or is there something I need to do?
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post #8 of 12
5/18/11 at 12:55pm
Did you look up diatoms? I'm 99% sure that's what you have going on based on your explanation/description.
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post #9 of 12
5/18/11 at 1:52pm
Thread Starter 
Diatoms seem to be the likely suspect. So more frequent water changes and let it run its course? That's about what I'm reading.
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post #10 of 12
5/18/11 at 7:03pm

Yes. I'm getting them right now after changing my lights. PITA, but they do go away. It happened when I changed from T5's to HQI's two years ago as well.

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post #11 of 12
5/18/11 at 10:33pm

+1, it does go away, had that it my DT for 2 weeks then it disappeared. Every now and then it may come back pending on how long you leave the lights on or upgrade as Tommie stated. I would see my stomatella's eating some of it from time to time. What I hated was when it got into the substrate, then vacuming became a priority Lol....

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post #12 of 12
5/19/11 at 9:41am
Thread Starter 
As always great info from this sites members, how the heck did any ones aquarium survive before the internet lol thank you all.
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