I had a 29 gallon fresh water tank. It had 1 betta. What started out as orange patches on the glass soon turned brown. Nothing I did seemed to halt its spread. Soon the substrate was brown, the filer was brown. It was sort of leafy, waving in the current. In 1 month the betta died. The aquarium has been emptied for 2 years and I want to start it back up. Any idea what this was and how to get rid of it if it happens again?
brown algae?
- Thread starter Lawrence Toush
- Start date
Rather than post a novel myself, check this out > https://www.thespruce.com/brown-aquarium-algae-1378629
I've never seen "brown alage" be leafy and waving. Most likely you had 2 types of algaes though and the brown algae was caught up and stuck in the other algae making it appear brown. Without seeing it or at least knowing more though it would be hard to ID the other algae that was giving it the leafy appearance.
Either way it is nothing to really worry about. Algae happens and with a little understanding of it, it is easily beaten.
Either way it is nothing to really worry about. Algae happens and with a little understanding of it, it is easily beaten.
I wouldn't let it deter you from starting the tank up again. Without seeing pictures, knowing your lighting quality and quantity, knowing tank parameters, feeding and water change schedules, there's not much I can offer to keep it from happening again. But I will say you can reduce algae growth with keeping light at 8 hours a day, keeping feeding to a minimum and stick to a water change that involves frequent changes. Here's the reasoning behind it:
- algae requires 8+ hours for max growth
- excess food provides nitrogen for algae to grow both in the form of rotting food and fish waste
- when water changes go a long period of time, you get a depletion of micronutrients as the algae and the fish use them up, then you remove the water and add a bunch and this gives you a huge influx of those micronutrients which causes a boom in growth
- algae requires 8+ hours for max growth
- excess food provides nitrogen for algae to grow both in the form of rotting food and fish waste
- when water changes go a long period of time, you get a depletion of micronutrients as the algae and the fish use them up, then you remove the water and add a bunch and this gives you a huge influx of those micronutrients which causes a boom in growth
I wouldn't worry about setting it back up..
If it does happen, you can battle it relatively easily.
Ultimately what to do will depend on the overall setup, and the inhabitants. But something like a pothos plant hanging from a HOB filter will suck out lots of nutrients.. as would having a few healthy plants in the aquarium.
If you do want to start back up, and want to be proactive.. why not post lists of equipment you want to use, and what you would like to keep, we could all go from there.
If it does happen, you can battle it relatively easily.
Ultimately what to do will depend on the overall setup, and the inhabitants. But something like a pothos plant hanging from a HOB filter will suck out lots of nutrients.. as would having a few healthy plants in the aquarium.
If you do want to start back up, and want to be proactive.. why not post lists of equipment you want to use, and what you would like to keep, we could all go from there.
