99light

Im not sure what is going on with my new tank, its been cycling about 5 weeks or so and it seems like almost out of nowhere the tank decorations ( fake rocks, pirate ships, plants and so on) seem to have this Rust colored/brown substance which i can assume to be an algae.

Is this normal? ive never seen anything but green before. I also have a lil bit of it on the two sides of the tank ( the shorter sides of the rectangle)

but it is literally on every decoration in the tank and seems to be growing steadily course it could just be my imigination of some mutant space algae tryin to infest my tank....

FL CommunityFans

If you've been using flake food, then it's from the phospates in the food. I will go away in time, or when you put fish in. Fish love it, especially plecos and oto's (and snails!) 2 snails cleaned a 10g tank in less than a week for my daughter.

susitna-flower

Those are diatoms, and every tank gets them. Fish will eat it. In time it will naturally disappear from your tank...Don't do anything, just wait it out. Several fish do love it, Otoes for one..... OH, by the way....

WELCOME TO FISHLORE!

99light

Well thats good to hear lol. I coulda swore i was being invaded by mutant space algae. I already have a few fish there ( cichlids) but no algae eaters i wanted to give the tank time to build up before i got a couple pleco's. My tank is nearly cycled. waitin for the nitrites to settle a lil more and the nitrate to build up, Should i get a pleco now or just wait till the lasy of the cycle

btw, i do use Flake food HBH flake frenzy for cichlids as well as sinking pellet food by the same company for cichlids

susitna-flower

Don't add any more fish until you have 0 for ammonia and nitrites and the nitrates come up....then only a couple of fish a week...what kind of cichlids do you have? What is the size of this tank? Be careful to get a pleco that won't out grow your tank.

Other than being a bit unsightly, the diatoms don't hurt anything, and will be gone in a few more weeks.....

COBettaCouple

Welcome to Fishlore.

That sounds like diatoms. It's a type of brown algae that often appears after a tank is cycled. You can remove it with a paper towel or let the fish work on it.

99light

Its a 150gallon tank and i really dont know what they are, their names were all way to long for me to remember. i got a pair of convicts. the rest i cant tell. Theres 2 electric blue ones, 2 yellow with brown spots and 2 smaller orange with blue stripes