lake tank brown algae

[mister ben]

lake tang brown algae

Alright, I've got a well established 30 gallon lake tang. Here's the specs-

ph - 8.0
ammonia - 0
nitrites - 0
nitrates - 7.5

1 adult neolamprologous brichardi
1 adult julidchromis dickfeldi
1 adult lamprologous stapersi
3 sub-adult lamprologous stapersi

Here's my problem - nasty brown algae EVERYWHERE!!! :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: Not cool and definitely unattractive. I wipe it of the rocks and syphon it off the sand with every water change, but this is really a crappy solution.

I thought that maybe someone here could give some suggestions for easy methods to control this or possibly an algae-eater that would be appropriate for my tank. I orignially wanted to keep the tank a tang exclusive, but I think at this point I am willing to break that rule to control this problem.

Thanks in advance.

 

[stingray4540]

Maybe a bristle nose pleco, but I don't know if they eat diatoms. Actually, if you can handle it, just wait, diatoms are usually associated with new tanks and most of the time will eventually go away. Is your tank relatively knew?

 

[mister ben]

well, I would consider it fairly well established, but I realize these things work on a sliding scale. It has been up and runnning since september, with filter material and what-not that has been consistently in use since january 2005. My other tanks generally would have cleared up by now, as I have had to deal with excessive diatoms in every tank I have ever had (which isn't too many), it blows. Thanks for the input.

 

[Slashdogg]

Hi Ben.

Brown algae is one of the easier ones to deal with. Is the tank planted at all? Adding something like java fern, vallisneria or anubias will help compete with the algae for nutrients. The other thing to consider is how long you have the tank lights on for. I struggled with BGA for a while until I reduced my lighting duration from 10 hours a day to about 8.

HtH
Ryan.

 

[derek681]

I had a similar problem with my tank so i purchased a bristlenose plec which sorted out the algae.

 

[partsrep]

I have an African tank and had the same situation for months. I just kept cleaning the rocks lightly with a new toothbrush and one day it started turning green. Now it looks real nice and natural with all the rocks covered in green. If the green gets too far out of control I'll just leave the tank lights off for a couple of days and it's fine again. Hang in there, it will be OK.

 

[mister ben]

advice taken, we'll see how it goes from here....

 

[Star_Rider]

actually brown algae is a symptom of relatively new aquariums..it the tank less than a year old.
and glass?
seems the research I have done on brown algae points to silicates leaching from the new glass(common), tap water and gravel.

brn algae also will grow with little or no light. Usualy higher nitrates and phosphates also contribute to the problem.
watch the feeding.

but guess what..Otto's love diatom algae...I put 3 in my tank and they love it..and the tank is clear of brn algae. I tried increasing light cleaning frequently water changes and limiting the feeding in my tank..it didn't help I broke down and added otto's..

if you don't want to add otto's..then watch the nitrate levels..the Si (silicate to phosphate)ratio has some to do with it and in time the silicates will leach out. the problem could disappear as quickly as it appeared

IMHO

ed