Help Brown Alage ....How to get rid of it.

7 posts

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


adehaan86
 
Posts: 140
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 2:38 am

Help Brown Alage ....How to get rid of it.

by adehaan86

I have a planted fish tank and have brown algae on the bottom. I'm a lil behind on checking my chemicals levels and checked it and PH was at a 6.0 I added PH up to the tank made by seachchem? Just wondering if there is more to the story and how to get rid of this stuff. It's starting to take over some of my plants.


dizzcat
 
Posts: 648
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:30 am

by dizzcat

How long has the tank been up and running? I too had this problem. I never found a definite answer but noticed 2 things related to brown algae.

First one is, I had a lot of problems with it the first 3 months the tank was set up. I think it had to do with the newness of the tank.

Second was how often you clean the tank. If I get busy and my cleaning is in 2 weeks instead of one (The tank is 2 years old now, so can handle that once in awhile, this is the only tank I can get away with that) I will get more of it.

What I did was just keep up on my cleanings. I would vacuum the gravel very well each time, take out all fake stuff and scrub it off. Wipe the sides down with an algae scrubber too. Take apart the filter, put all the media in tank water (the sponges and carbon) and clean out the plastic pieces. Swish the filter media out in the tank water (never put that under tap water, it kills the bacteria that controls ammonia).

Just keep on top of it until you notice it slowly going away. I still get it in my community tank, but nothing like before. Its the only tank that gets it. I think it has to do with live plants? I don't have any in my other 2 tanks.

Don't use any of the chemicals they sell at the store to kill algae. I have read so many horror stories about people using it and it killing their fish!

For the brown stuff on the live plants, get a couple or 6 Otto Cats. They stay very small at under 2" and spend all day buzzing on the leaves. They are the best for live plants because they do not harm them. Make sure you get Otto cats and not something that looks similar like the Chinese catfish, who will terrorize the tank and get bigger.

These are Otto Cats: http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_dis ... pcatid=923


dizzcat
 
Posts: 648
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:30 am

by dizzcat

I just found this on a web site
""Brown Algae (diatoms) are more likely to appear in low-light aquariums and new setups, where nitrogen (N) is low and phosphate (P) level is high, with excess silicate (SiO2). It's been known that strong lights make this algae go away, but they might still be seen on lower, shadowed, plant leaves (Bacopa australis, Cardamine lyrata). It can also be found on aquarium glass, gravel and decoration. It can be easily removed manually, since it has a soft/slimy structure. Siamese Algae Eaters, Otos (this catfish relishes this type of algae) and Snails can easily keep this algae in low numbers. Healthy plants can prevent this algae from over taking the tank. ""

Web site is: http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_fre ... _algae.php

Hope it helps some :-)


adehaan86
 
Posts: 140
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 2:38 am

by adehaan86

Thanks for your help, I did talk to the pet store they said to use phos lock to get rid of the algae I cleaned the tank now I belive i'm getting rust in the tank. I use a RO water then put the good nutrients back into the water. Well I think I put too much in and well too much IRON and it's all over now. Unsure if this is true. But again thanks for your help


aaronnorth
 
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 4:49 pm

by aaronnorth

"Brown Algae (diatoms) are more likely to appear in low-light aquariums and new setups, where nitrogen (N) is low and phosphate (P) level is high, with excess silicate (SiO2)."

Diatoms are linked with ammonia spikes and unstable bacteria colonies - hence why you get them at the start of setup.

Substrates we use in the tank contain silica molecules, such as tectosilicattes and phyllosilicates - these stay in the substrate for years - diatoms last a few months! ;)


zambize
 
Posts: 401
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:14 pm

by zambize

Get some Cherry Shrimp. They are cute little buggers and they spend all day eating algae off plants. I breed them for my local fish store. They are very small and efficient.

Z


adehaan86
 
Posts: 140
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 2:38 am

by adehaan86

Well the tank is looking very good now, I got everthing cleared up and little bit of algae left but 2 algae eaters to hopefully take care of it. It appears it just was a nasty algae boom we all get.

Help Brown Alage ....How to get rid of it.

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