# Help! Orange 'fungus' everywhere!!!



## KingKrueg

Hey Folks,
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

I came back to my dorm room not 10 minutes ago and peered into my tank, and EVERYTHING IS ORANGE! My rocks, my plants, my figurines...EVERYTHING! 

Now, I have had this problem before. Someone said it was an overgrowth of algae, and someone said that it was a fungus. Regardless, both sources told me to do an entire tank cleaning, which I did. I also changed the filter cartridge.

The thing is, I did that two weeks ago, and it's all back! I cleaned every inch of my tank, rocks, ornaments, and everything imaginable, and this orange "stuff" just came back!

Has anyone ever experienced this in their tanks before? This is starting to make me nervous. 

I thank you in advance!


----------



## tropicalfishland

Sounds like you might have an imbalance in your tank to cause this orange algae. You may have a higher content of nitrate and phosphate, that comes from excessive food, dead life in the water and others. I've read that doing 20-30% water changes every other day will help you with that problem and it should disappear in a week or so. If it doesn't, you should do some online reading on it.


----------



## SinCrisis

i have never heard of orange algae... are you talking about brown diatoms? if so those are natural and just look ugly, will go away on their own, natural for new tanks.


----------



## KingKrueg

TropicalFishLand, the thing is.... I took a water sample to the fish store and they said my water was perfectly fine. Nitrates, Phosphates, etc. I have no idea what it could be caused by.

SinCrisis, I have done some research online. I do see the term "brown diatom" a lot and not "algae." Is there a way to get this junk off my stuff without having to clean it every time? This tank is only about 6 weeks old, so you can be right about it happening to new tanks.

The thing is, I cleaned every possible inch of this tank and everything inside and it all came back. It's really weird though that it's the darkest right under where the filter spits water out, like a big patch on the gravel. So do you guys think that if I clean my filter and replace a filter cartridge AGAIN, do you think it would go away easier?

Thanks for all you have done for me so far. :-D


----------



## SinCrisis

Does your LFS use the test strips or liquid test kits? The strips are notoriously inaccurate.

Brown diatoms are common in new aquariums. They come when your tank is cycling and ammonia is high. Usually the best course of action is to just wait it out. I get it everytime i start a new tank. any algae eater will eat it and any shrimp will eat it. Once your tank is established it will die and go away on its own. The more you clean, the more likely it will come back since your setting your cycle back. Replacing the cartridge sets your cycle back as well.

What is your tank stocked with? Also do you have a pic?


----------



## jsenske

A nice small bushy nose pleco will eradicate that stuff in a day or so- and control it long term.


----------



## SinCrisis

Dependent on his tank size and current stock, a pleco may not be suitable since they carry larger bioloads than other fish. Also introducing fish to clear our new-tank algae is usually a bad idea since algae eaters like plecos will clean out the tank quickly and then will need to be fed algae wafers or starve to death. Fish like plecos should be added after the tank has matured and the amount of algae growth is more stable if this is just a bloom the food source will quickly vanish the the pleco will not do well without additional feeding. 

Often new tanks like this will have brown diatoms or soft green algae blooms as the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates change, after the thank has fully cycled all plants will be competing for nitrates which should result in lower algae growth with live plants ( I assume you have live plants since you specified plants in your OP).


----------



## KingKrueg

It's a ten gallon tank. It currently has 4 guppies, 5 neon tetras, small algae eater, and one ghost shrimp. I also have 13 2 weeks old guppy fry in another tank, but that's non issue right now.

Yeah I have live plants in the tank and black gravel on the bottom. I've attached a picture as requested. 

One is a picture of my setup. The second, has a picture of the "brown diatoms" that have been growing on my ornament and even on the gravel if you can see.


----------



## jsenske

SinCrisis said:


> Dependent on his tank size and current stock, a pleco may not be suitable since they carry larger bioloads than other fish. Also introducing fish to clear our new-tank algae is usually a bad idea since algae eaters like plecos will clean out the tank quickly and then will need to be fed algae wafers or starve to death. Fish like plecos should be added after the tank has matured and the amount of algae growth is more stable if this is just a bloom the food source will quickly vanish the the pleco will not do well without additional feeding.
> 
> Often new tanks like this will have brown diatoms or soft green algae blooms as the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates change, after the thank has fully cycled all plants will be competing for nitrates which should result in lower algae growth with live plants ( I assume you have live plants since you specified plants in your OP).


You guys answer questions like you just read it from a book. I add something like a single bushy nose to such a tank all the time. No they won't starve and no they don't "need" algae wafers. Get you one. Watch the algae disappear, and under normal conditions you don't need to supplement a single pleco. You guys have this op going crazy to solve an exceedingly simple problem. Just get the pleco and be done with it.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## jsenske

Ok- my bad. I hadn't seen the pics. Not sure how I missed them. Anyway, I was wrong- definitely do not add a bushy nose pleco to this tank. I know nothing about such a set up.


----------



## SinCrisis

@jsenke: Not understanding your water chemistry can easily lead to problems in the future of the tank. Looking for easy way out is always an option, but its often not the best one.

@KingKreug: What kind of algae eater do you have? If you have one it should keep the diatoms in check. Your stock is a bit heavy, dependent on your algae eater, this may be causing excessive ammonia and without a properly cycled tank, leaves a lot for the diatoms to capitalize on. Is your other tank well matured? If it is well cycled and stable, you could try squeezing your filter media into this 10g setup and see if you can jump start the cycle. Once the tank is stablized, the diatoms will slow in growth and go away on its own.


----------



## KingKrueg

It has been a few days now and I have seen a significant difference in the brown patches. They aren't completely gone, but you were right. Time is all it needed. My plants are still covered a bit with the junk, but they are not as significantly covered as they were before.

I did variable water changes the past few days and I believe that has sparked the change. 

Thanks a bunch from both of you guys!


----------

