Brown growth on plants?

[LumberZack]

Setting up a new tank after 15 years 🙂

Bought 3 plants from the local fish store and there's brown (algae?) stuff on them.

Any thoughts on what this is and if I need to worry about it?

Thanks

 

[ange]

Looks like diatom algae. It tends to clear up on its own as the tank grows more seasoned. Otocinclus catfish will eat it if your tank is large enough to support a school.

[Mridul Singh]

It's diatom algae. It will usually go away once the tank ages, and I wouldn't worry about it. As @angesays, oto cats will eat it, but they will need supplemental feeding.

Snails can also help.

[LumberZack]

Thanks.
I think there was a snail hitchhiker in the plants, maybe 2.

[Bill]

Yup, diatoms... all my new tanks have it. Easy to get off the glass, pain to get off plants (except if you have ottos as @ange says). Mine is starting to decrease just a bit after almost 2 months. 

Edited October 9, 2020 by Bill

[T.C.]

Hi, I have an add-on question.

I have diatoms on ohko stones and on live plants in a month old aquarium. There are now some cherry shrimp and a few killfish living in the tank, with a couple of snails that hitchhiked on a plant or two. 

I wipe off the diatoms on the glass in single strokes from the bottom up and clean out the sponge outside the aquarium and gently wipe the larger, less delicate leaves before doing a water change. 

1) When they eventually die off, will the diatoms fall off and disappear from the plants and rocks or will I have to scrub all the crevices and prune off the affected leaves?

2) Also, would adding more plants help to utilize any excess fertilizer and out-compete the diatoms, getting rid of them sooner?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Mridul Singh]

@T.C. 1) When the diatoms die off, your fish and the cherry shrimp, and the snails will all eat the algae. The rest will usually just goa away.

2) Adding more plants will certainly help, and in the long run will help you fight other algaes as well.

Good Luck!