Sad sad.. :(

[Nocturnus]

Well, I was out of town friday-sunday. I ment to make 2 new bottles for co2 before I left and forgot. I got back home sunday night and it was a sad sight. Brown algage took over my tank with a vengince. I've tried to get rid of it and sadly, looks like i'm gonna have to start over.. I'm gonna throw the cabumba away :( but will try to salvage the new shoots off my vals. Sucks. I should really invest in a real co2 setup now..

[Blinky]

Before you chuck everything, how about adding a few otos? They'll clean up brown algae off the plants in no time...

[Captain Hook]

Or just remove it yourself. I've found it's pretty easy to clean off usually. Try an old toothbrush if you have it, should brush off.

[Nocturnus]

i've been tring to get rid of it for a few days now.. i'm going to try cleaning it, esp. off the vals since they cost the most to replace, the cabumba is like $1.50/bunch so i'm ok with replaceing it. My val jungle has ALOT of algae growth off the runners and roots.. I donno how much of the roots i can trim off and still have a plant that is ok. I have 2 otto's and they are not touching it right now... strands are ~1" long in some places. If i had my 10g tank here, i'd use it as a rescue tank, but really, I have this 45 quart rubbermaid container I might use to try out to see if I can get the plants fixed up..

[Captain Hook]

Hmm, definitely sounds like we are talking about different types of algae. Here's a good article on algae with some pics. I'm not sure which type you have though.

http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9

[Nocturnus]

cool, looks like i have staghron algae, some brush algae and some brown algae. Staghorn is what I think i have all over the val jungle in my tank...

[Nocturnus]

Welp, all plants are gone. Threw away on tuesday. Tanks going to run w/o co2 and just ambiant lighting for a bit, see if the algae will die off, did a massive water change, like 15 gallons out of the original 20. gonna let the tank settle down, and do 50% changes every 2 days and use a gravel vac to clean up.. weee..

[Blinky]

Oh my. Sorry you had to throw them all out, that's awful. When I said otos would clean up brown algae, I meant diatoms - I didn't know you meant brush/staghorn; those need to be managed in other ways.
May I suggest, if you've turned off the tank lights anyway, why not do a water change and then completely black out the tank for 4-5 days - that'll take care of most if not all of the algae. Then it's just a matter of changing the water (to clean out the dead algae) and keeping the water parameters, ferts, light, CO2 etc. balanced so it doesn't come back.

[Nocturnus]

well, it wouldnt of been there if i would of made my new batch of co2 before i went home for 3 days.. when i got back, i was making 0 co2.. replaced both batches, no go. right now, there is no more brown algae that I can see.. thats why there is no light on the tank or co2. going to do my water changes. hell, even put 3 filters on to help (kept original filter media went and reused). i'll be back to normal soon..

[geoffgarcia]

I should really invest in a real co2 setup now..yeppers!
DIY and going the cheap route doesn't pay off in the long run, you'll spend twice as much and it'll work half as good.

[ZebraPl3co]

This is really strange. I've never had brown algae growing with staghorn or brush algae at the same time. I though brown algae only grows in low light and high nitrate. Staghorn and brush algae grow in medium to high light, high nitrate and high phospate.