oscar tank

[sharpie]

i clean my oscar tank about every two weeks. he is about 5 inches long and in a 55. when i clean the tank the glass and rock and plant are covered with brown stuff. is this gunk or just some kind of algae?
:cool2: thank you

[MoJo]

i clean my oscar tank about every two weeks. he is about 5 inches long and in a 55. when i clean the tank the glass and rock and plant are covered with brown stuff. is this gunk or just some kind of algae?
:cool2: thank you


Brown algae.

[iangangoo]

i have seen the same brown algae? Is this normal to happen when i vacume my tank? it happens when i refill my tank the glass looks really bad? should i clean with a magnet or is there something i can use (chemical)

[rosswake]

I would never use chemicals if there was another option. Algae is very easily cleaned with a sponge or the magnet cleaner.
The glass probably looks just as bad when the water is in it, but maybe you don't notice it as much since the light isn't reflecting against as strongly. Just scrub it off and maybe decrease the amount of time you leave your lights on during the day. Algae loves light!

[iangangoo]

ok I will limit the time my lights are on-how long per day is good should I only put them on to feed? I thought fish needs light to grow??

[aardvark1]

If you have plants, 12 hours a day max.

Fishies don't need light-except for us to admire them!

[sharpie]

could over feeding be help contribute to the brown algae?

[almsk8s4life]

yes actually