Brown Algae...

[MeAirlinePilot]

I have been fighting a war with brown algae in my 40G tank for about 3 months now. It just keeps getting worse and worse. I have left the light out for weeks at a time and that doesn't help. I have reduced the amount of feeding down to almost nothing once every other day. I do a water change twice a week. It is just a tropical tank with assorted rosy barbs, giant danios, etc... There are only about ten fish in the tank total. What algae remover has people bought and used that works well and everyone recommends? Are those liquid algae destroyers good? Thanks for the help everyone.

[Andy16]

I would try to get a pleco or some sorta fish that eats the algae, you should also scrape it of with a razor blade(be careful not to scracth the glass) or a toothbrush like twice a week if it is really that bad.

[ChilDawg]

Extra chemicals, by my choice, are NIMT. I'd go with Otocincluses for brown algae eating.

[ScottoMacD]

How old is the tank?
Brown algae is notorious with newer tank syndrome. Usually fully cycled tanks that are between 6 months to a year old.

Lighting is a big factor with brown algae. Stay away from algae removing chemicals they are bad news.

Here is a good article to read. It will help you out.

http://freshaquarium.about.com/library/series/blalgaebrown.htm

Good luck.

[MeAirlinePilot]

Thanks everyone for your reply. The tank has been set up for about four years so it's definately not new. I forgot to say I have a pair of convicts in the aquarium with babies so I don't want otos or plecos because the parent's would have a fit and kill it quickly since it would be on the below mid level most of the time. What would you suggest? No algae remover liquid is reputable and does the trick? Thanks again.

[ChilDawg]

I missed this the first time:


Originally posted by MeAirlinePilot
It just keeps getting worse and worse. I have left the light out for weeks at a time and that doesn't help.

These are called diatoms. They are actually symptomatic of too little light in a particular tank, so increasing your light intensity might not be a bad idea!

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

if you have brown algea it meens your nitrates are to high and you need to do say a 50% water change and clean off the algea and is shouldnt grow back:D

[ChilDawg]

Originally posted by Dragon_Lord_Tia
if you have brown algea it meens your nitrates are to high and you need to do say a 50% water change and clean off the algea and is shouldnt grow back:D

That is a pretty darn good point, Dragon_Lord_Tia, but they may come back if there is a problem whereby the nitrates will continue to rise and rise again...but I don't see one if the feeding is as low as stated. Go with DLT's idea and see what happens...if the brown algae comes back, try increasing the light levels.

[DarthV]

High nitrates aren't the only cause. I'll bet that his water has a high silicate content. Doing a water change will just replenish the silicate and might cause more algae growth. I do weekly 25% changes in my 20gal tank and could never get a leg up on the brown algae, so I just went out and got a pleco. Nothing like cleaning the way mother nature does! It took a grand total of 3 days for a 1.5" pleco to clean the entire tank. If you have plenty of hiding spaces for it, the convicts won't do too much harm.

[OrionGirl]

I agree with the silicates. Diatoms don't need light, but they do need silicates to make their shell. Try doing a water change with RO water (you can buy it at many grocery stores, LFS, and big box stores). Or, see if you can find a LFS to test the water for you for silicates.

If 2 water changes with RO water don't make a difference, you'll need to look at what's in your tank that could be causing a problem. This one is trickier, because I'm not sure what could be there that would leach silicates at a pH higher than about 4.0.

[Heady]

A pleco will get too big for that tank. Go with otolincus instead.

[MeAirlinePilot]

Hey everyone, thanks so much for all the help. I have been the oto route and I always end up with dead otos within a week because of the convicts. What about purchasing 1-2 2" plecos and then returning them to the LFS after all algae is gone? My water is very hard with a lot of minerals and calcium. I don't see why it could be the nitrates because I change 20% of the water twice a week. There is not a lot of fish in there in the first place to produce that much waste so the nitrates aren't very high. Anyways, thanks a lot for the help. I appreciate it. One final question: So that's a no go for algae-removing liquid?

[wetmanNY]

Maybe you have to be satisfied with cleaning the front glass with the double magnet cleaners, and letting the diatoms just develop naturally on the rocks and gravel. More intense light in a shorter photoperiod (<10 hours) may help.

And there's nothing like a floating carpet of duckweed, regularly harvested, to suck up those extra nutrients.

[Ace26]

do you have sand (silica) as substrate? if you do, these is probably the cause of the brown algae, l read a lot of success stories with sand as substrate if they have lots of plant in the tank, too much nutrients in the water and too much light creates brown algae outbreak, but if you have plenty of plants to suck up the nutrients in the tank, it should control the algae outbreak

[MeAirlinePilot]

No I don't have sand as substrate, I just have small and medium sized gravel. I'm thinking about getting live plants but I don't want any that take a lot of care and lighting requirements. My lighting is off more of the day than it is on, (on approximately 5 hours per day), and I want something that's easy to take care of and doesn't have any special requirements (something VERY hardy). What is duckweed, btw? What about Java Fern or Amazon Sword? Are these good plants that will be good for me? Thanks a lot for the help.

[Heady]

Duckweed is basically a weed that will take over the entire surface of the water if you let it. In order to have it use up excess nutrients, just put some in there and use a net to scoop extra out at the end of the week.

Some fish LOVE to eat duckweed and will keep it in check naturally. Goldfish will completely eradicate duckweed in an aquarium in less than a couple of days. If you have fish that like to eat duckweed, you can use the extra as supplemental food.

Congo tetras like duckweed, and my bala sharks have eaten it from time to time.