Sprinangl2

ok. most of you know about my betta boy mel. well the tank i have him in has a problem with this brown algae-like substance..i don't know if it is algae or what. light doesn't have any affect on it...i tried starving it and everything. it coats everything in the tank and makes it look horrible no matter how much i clean it. the filter's working fine, and i change the cartridges regularly. what could it be mel doesn't deserve to live in a dirty home...please help!!!!

Shawnie

its probably diatoms which is new tank algae..an eye sore but not harmful and will go away on its own....how old is the tank?

fishlover78

how old is the tank, this brown algae like stuff is called brown diatoms. when you start a new tank this stuff grows like heck at the tail end of the cycle. hope this helps ya!

fishlover78

darn! Shawnie got to it first! (just kidding!)

Shawnie

great minds think alike tho

fishlover78

thanks Shawnie, same goes for you!

COBettaCouple

I tend to wipe it off things as much as possible until it goes away or if the tank is big enough for 1 or 2 albino plecos (or a trio of cories), they love the stuff.

soldieroffortune1974

The diatoms (brown algae) thrives in low light conditions. The Betta probably isn't eating all the food you give him,so the increased phosphates will allow the Brown algae to bloom. Decreasing the food or removing uneaten food and increasing the light will help it go away.

Sprinangl2

omg, thank you! the tank has been up for a few months, but i had to redo the cycle because mr. wiggles died and i wanted to start from scratch in caee there was something in the tank that killed him. but thanks for the advice!

Alessa

Also, if you're changing the filter cartridge, you're most likely going trough mini cycles without noticing. The result is, the tank never matures and you always have the brown algae.

One should never change the filter media unless it is basically falling appart. By doing so one takes most of the good bacteria which lives in there.

Sprinangl2

oh, wow, really? huh. i never knew that. thank you!!!!!