i could just CRY - help ID this agae

lazarus

lazarus

Member
my 100g FOWLR tank is 5 yrs old. Mid - November i did a major overhaul - emptied fish and LR and cleaned entire front acrylic with 6 stage cleaner to remove all scratches on the inside. Had done this once before with great success.
All went well and fish were returned without incident. Even added a couple more. Then the trouble started:
1. The new fish died within a week, and a couple others. I figured they were not healthy (I dont have a QT tank) so did not attribute to the water change.
2. I came back from a business trip to find a new algae on the glass - it takes the form of brownish spots that look like water spots - am working to get a picture posted. This stuff is MAJOR STUBBORN. A toothbrush - what i normally use - does nothing. I had to use major elbow grease to get it off and - as a result - I got my stratches back on the glass again! (this is the crying part). In all my years in the hobby i have not encountered this algae before. if it is here to stay....i may have to leave this hobby.
Other particulars: I use RO water, have some soft corals (which are doing well), and extremely low bioload (espec since some livestock has died). All my parameters are good and I recently started adding Iodide as supplement.
ANY HELP APPRECIATED!
 
lazarus

lazarus

Member
Here are two pics - its difficult to get these on film as they are translucent, brownish in color, like spilling a coke on glass.

 
E

eric b 125

Guest
i get that on my glass, too. especially near the corners, where the mag-float doesnt quite reach. i have found that a 10 minute daily mag-float/ scraping, keeps this PITA at un-noticeable levels.
 
lazarus

lazarus

Member
i stopped using the mag scrapers as they get sand caught in them and led to my problems in the first place. i use a toothbrush only. it was able to tackle any algae problems i had in the past. i could safely go a week without any algae becoming stubborn. this stuff grew to cover most my tank in less than a week - and getting it off has been like sucking chrome from a bumper.
 
sean48183

sean48183

Member
Believe it or not that kind of algae is a sign your tank is doing good. Every time I got my tank to where it is running smoothly this kind of algae grows. It is some kind of microalgae and my dwarf angels love it constantly picking at the glass where this brown stuff is growing. It does come off but problem is you have acrylic. I have a glass tank and I use a scraper with a razor blade on it that with some elbow grease will take it off. My tangs go absolutely insane for this stuff when I scrape it. The type of algae that just comes off easily is a sign your tank is bad(cyano, hair algae). Trade in the acrylic and go glass. Will make all the difference.
 
lazarus

lazarus

Member
Originally Posted by nycbob
http:///forum/post/3189082
i get brown film too on my glass daily. i'd just scape it off. why did u dose iodide?
i was sold it by the LFS as a supplement for my soft corals. did i just get sold a useless liquid?
 
lazarus

lazarus

Member
i dont know how my fish could eat this stuff....it does not come off in edible form, so not sure we are talking about same algae.
 
psychic_alice

psychic_alice

Member
I'm slightly confused as to the complexity of this simple problem because there are a couple of options
(so no worries
) . But first I'd like to point out some differences between glass and acrylic (both pos and neg aspects).
Glass is harder, heavier, and if you do get scratches very difficult to hide/erase. Acrylic is softer, lighter, but scratches can easily be buffed out.
I had that kind of algea in my tank and it is really annoying. I tried to rub it off with my fingers and it was pointless, but I could scratch it with my nail and it would come right off.
Okay, onto solutions. I don't know why no one's mentioned this before but I re-stocked some snails and they cleared it off wonderfully, I haven't used my magfloat in ages.
Another thing you could try is what my dad used to do. He used an old credit card and scraped it off, use it like a squeegee
Hope this helps
 
jchmiel

jchmiel

Member
I might recomend plastic rasor blades. I see them in the automotive industry. I have tryed them and they work on glass pretty well, but they are plastic so they wear out too easy. I would think you could use them on acrilic...
I do have that stuff as well. It scrapes off in flakes, but it is hard as hell (like coralline algae)
 
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