What is this rusty/red stuff....

[fishmom]

What is this rusty red stuff all over my tank? On the glass--brand new live sand....covering rocks and powerheads?????:frustrat:

 

[Mandarin66]

Coraline Algae? i need pictures :/

 

[bjohanson1234]

How old is the tank?

Sounds like a diatom bloom, they feed off of the silicates in the sand and water. Once they eat up all of the silicates, they will die off. Very normal in a new tank. If you wave your hand in the water, do they wave off easily like a dusting?

 

[Mandarin66]

How old is the tank?

Sounds like a diatom bloom, they feed off of the silicates in the sand and water. Once they eat up all of the silicates, they will die off. Very normal in a new tank. If you wave your hand in the water, do they wave off easily like a dusting?

i have that too how you get rid of it? :^:

 

[Bifferwine]

It does sound like diatoms. If you are using tap water, you are more likely to have bad diatom problems. Switching to RODI water will help, and as your tank matures, the diatoms will go away. They are not harmful -- just ugly.

 

[Mandarin66]

k Thanks

 

[fishmom]

How old is the tank?

Sounds like a diatom bloom, they feed off of the silicates in the sand and water. Once they eat up all of the silicates, they will die off. Very normal in a new tank. If you wave your hand in the water, do they wave off easily like a dusting?

Yeah--some of them will "wave off"--other places I have to gently rub my finger over it..trying to post a couple of mediocre photos.....

 

[Bifferwine]

That's definitely diatoms.

 

[Mandarin66]

just look like Brown Algae did you check your Water Par?

 

[fishmom]

It does sound like diatoms. If you are using tap water, you are more likely to have bad diatom problems. Switching to RODI water will help, and as your tank matures, the diatoms will go away. They are not harmful -- just ugly.

Using RODI water for over a month---might be a tiny percent of tap water in the entire mix.

 

[fishmom]

Actually---I am soooooo dang proud that I was able to post the pics I sorta don't even care about the rusty stuff now.........:bounce:

 

[cageburn]

it goes away on its own dont worry, we love pics were just as excited lol

 

[bjohanson1234]

Once all the extra silicates are consumed by the diatoms, they will start dying off. Just keep up the water quality and you are good to go.

 

[fishmom]

Will I mess things up if I scrub the tank glass??? Just too funky to look at and not do anything......

 

[bjohanson1234]

Nope, I use one of those magnetic algea scrappers so my hands dont get wet.

 

[fishmom]

Thanks soooo much you guys--just one more dumb question:

Can I stack my rocks against the back glass? With the rocks in place I cannot 'scrub' the glass......will the mess go away on its own?

 

[Bifferwine]

You can stack the rocks against the back glass, just try to make sure there's some water movement back there so it's not stagnant.

Most people don't worry about cleaning their back glass. Just the sides and front. There will always be some type of algae on your glass. If not diatoms, then it will be a green/brown film algae.