# DIY background with Drylok starting to show rust spots.



## thatbb6 (May 3, 2012)

About 2 weeks ago I noticed some rust spots on my BG and now the amount has increased quite a bit. Besides the background, the rocks has starting to show some rust spots as well. For the fake plant, I'm using the ones from Michaels. I bought a couple bunches of hair grass looking plant, cut them up with a wire cutter. Last when I was moving the scape, I noticed the metal wire of the plant has rusted up like crazy. I'm thinking this is the source of it. But then again, I know lots of people use Michaels fake plants, yet no one complained about the rust so far. What should I do?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Are you sure the BG and rocks have rust and not a rust-colored algae? I don't think rust migrates...in other words I think it stays on the metal where it originated and unless your BG and rocks have metal content, I would have thought they could not have rust.


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## thatbb6 (May 3, 2012)

ohh must be the algae then. But how come it is brown instead of green? I was waiting for the algae to grow on the BG to make it look more natural but I prefer the green over the brown. And what should I do about the rust on the metal?


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## adotson85 (Sep 22, 2012)

I don't think the wire in the plants is a major concern, unless it really is rust and starts to effect your water parameters. Brown algae has 3 main causes: excess nitrates, lack of oxygen or inadequate lighting. The first thing to do is make sure your nitrates are within range. Next, I would look at lighting. What lighting do you have? How many hours a day do you keep the lights on? If those two don't work you need to see if you have too little circulation in the tank. Water circulation helps to keep the oxygen levels higher. If you can figure out which of these is causing the brown algae then you should be able to address the issue and create an environment that is more condusive for green algae.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

To tell you the truth...I've never been successful at keeping only green algae growing over the long term, and I don't know anyone else who has either. If Members have success stories at this (green only, two years or more) maybe they can post to this thread.

If your parameters are conducive to algae, I think more than one kind is going to grow. If you keep it under control, a little spot of green here and a little spot of brown there is going to look natural.

I find a planted tank works best for me to control algae throughout the tank (including rocks, background and glass) and I always have at least one BN in my tanks to work on the glass.


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## ITALIAN926 (Jul 31, 2012)

I added two BN plecos to clean up the brown algae, man those guys cleaned up fast. Since they did such a great job, today, *** increased the light in my tank from 10 hours to 14. I'll probably have to get rid of one when they get bigger.

DJ, my anubias and java fern are doing fine in the tank, they are all growing new leaves, in the case of java fern , im picking off the babies, and spreading them around. As far as the jungle Vals, not so good. From what I can tell, new leaves coming from the roots are like a reddish color, my yellow labs LOVE munching on these sproutlets. They leave the existing green stems alone, but I dont think I can keep these with Electric Yellows.


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## eutimio (Aug 22, 2012)

So not enough lighting might encourage brown algae to grow?It started growing on my white rocks i kinda hate how it looks and yes i dont have enough lighting and i barely let it on for 8 hours straight .what should i do?


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## ITALIAN926 (Jul 31, 2012)

If thats in response to my post, I basically increased the lighting to have it on while we're awake most of the day, and the bristlenote plecos are doing a great job eating the brown algae.


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## eutimio (Aug 22, 2012)

sounds good ill be getting two BP , and get rid of my SAE .


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## adotson85 (Sep 22, 2012)

eutimio said:


> So not enough lighting might encourage brown algae to grow?It started growing on my white rocks i kinda hate how it looks and yes i dont have enough lighting and i barely let it on for 8 hours straight .what should i do?


Is this a newly cycled or established tank? Alot of times you will have a sudden growth of brown algae during or right after cycling due to the high level of nitrates. If it is established, I would slowly increase the lighting. I wouldn't drastically increase the lighting right off, as this will cause green algae to form. Takes some time to find the right balance. Also, you could just add a BN pleco or two to remove the algae.


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## eutimio (Aug 22, 2012)

I wouldnt mind green algae at all but i will try increase the lighting.The tank is established


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Keep in mind that green algae is not always just a nice mossy cover but it can grow over an inch (or two) long. Good advice about finding the right balance...a little no matter what color is fine but tricky to keep it under control.


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## thatbb6 (May 3, 2012)

adotson85 said:


> I don't think the wire in the plants is a major concern, unless it really is rust and starts to effect your water parameters. Brown algae has 3 main causes: excess nitrates, lack of oxygen or inadequate lighting. The first thing to do is make sure your nitrates are within range. Next, I would look at lighting. What lighting do you have? How many hours a day do you keep the lights on? If those two don't work you need to see if you have too little circulation in the tank. Water circulation helps to keep the oxygen levels higher. If you can figure out which of these is causing the brown algae then you should be able to address the issue and create an environment that is more condusive for green algae.


I have lots of oxygen from the air pump. Lighting kinda sucks though because I have one 36" fluorescent that is on for about 8 hrs a day, give or take. My tank is 75G 48"x18x25.

I thought algae growth would be a nice even coat that gets darker and darker? Even that would be way better than random spots here n there.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

No...it just gets longer and longer unless you starve it.


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

Am I missing something here? It would seem the "rust" is a bloom of diatoms, which is normal in a new setup . I realize this was mentioned, by DJRansome, as brown algae, but the rest of the thread seems to have gone askew. DJ is also correct about the green algae, as filamentous thread algae will grow an indefinite length.


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## BrendanMc (May 30, 2012)

I keep hearing this is normal to a new tank. Does it go away with regular maintanence, or does something have to change to battle it? I also have these brown spots forming on my tank, which has been up about 5 months.


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## adotson85 (Sep 22, 2012)

BrendanMc said:


> I keep hearing this is normal to a new tank. Does it go away with regular maintanence, or does something have to change to battle it? I also have these brown spots forming on my tank, which has been up about 5 months.


It won't really go away unless you address the problem that is causing it. The main reason new tanks get are more prone to it is due to the increased nitrates during cycling. So when you decrease the nitrates and clean the tank it shouldn't return assuming there is adequate oxygen and lighting. Regular maintanence will get rid of the brown algae temporarily, but you will have to address the real issue to keep it from coming back. You can also add snails or BN plecos to keep it under control.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Diatoms will go away after several months on it's own. Other types of brown algae will not.


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