is this normal?

[fish_chic]

okay i have this brown stuff (like fuzzy algea, maybe?) in my tank. it is on a white rock i have and you can see some on the walls of my tank. i do at least a 30 gal wc every weekend and it still comes back in about 2 or 3 days. is this normal or something i need to look in to. all my fish are happy.

parameters...
p.h. 7.6
ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 8ppm
temp 82 (was treating for ick. now i am dropping it slowly)

ps- i had the brown stuff befor i had ick and started rising the temp.

 

[James From Cali]

I think it may be spot algae! Just wi[e it off and it should keep the algae from growing. Keep wiping it off and after a week or so it should go away. This happened to me and thats what I did. How long are the lights on and how much are you feeding the fish? Are your fish messy eaters? Take these things into consideration and maybe you could ct back on feeding and how long your lights are on!

 

[dhlesq]

I just posted about the same thing and followed everyones advice to wipe it off during a water change. Tank looks good again, and we'll see if it comes back or not.

-Dave

 

[Lonewolfblue]

The brown stuff is normal, it's diatoms. Get a couple otos, they love diatoms and will clean it all up.

 

[dhlesq]

I tried the otos but had bad luck.
They didn't touch the diatoms and then they all died.

I have since read that otos are tough to get acclimated to new surroundings.

That being said, I did get consistent advice that otos were the thing to eat the diatoms.

-Dave

 

[Lonewolfblue]

The trick to getting good otos is to only get the fattest ones. Fat means healthy. If they are not fat at the lfs, then something may be wrong with them. I have 10 myself, 6 in my 75G and 4 in my 29G, and all acclimated just fine and are really big pigs, lol.

 

[fish_chic]

thanks alot guys i think i will try the otos.