Brown Algae growing on glass

[Monolicious]

Hi All,
I was just wondering what would cause brown algae to grow on my glass, It is becoming so tiresome cleaning it every 3-4 days.
Any ideas on what could cause it or how to stop it.


Regards
Peter

 

[superleggera123]

omg i have the same issue

 

[convict94]

pleco's help obviously...but i've found that sunlight creates most of the brown algae in my tank...only thing is to clean it yourself, i havn't found an alternative yet

 

[Monolicious]

pleco's help obviously...but i've found that sunlight creates most of the brown algae in my tank...only thing is to clean it yourself, i havn't found an alternative yet

There is never any sunlight on the tank what so ever, I do have a 4FT twin T5 set up though, I wonder if this is creating the algae, The tank is a 5x2x2.5 with only 1 Aro and a couple of catfish.....

 

[shua]

i got the same thing and a film on top of the water. im geting rid of some fish and trying a start over the film/ oily subtance makes me nervous an old friend might have put green soap (some of my tattooing cleaner) in my stess coat bottle.

 

[Crazyfish88]

There is never any sunlight on the tank what so ever, I do have a 4FT twin T5 set up though, I wonder if this is creating the algae, The tank is a 5x2x2.5 with only 1 Aro and a couple of catfish.....

I had the same problem as well and I was using 2 x 3ft twin T5 lights and it caused brown algae in my tank. It's due to having your lights on too long. I had my lights on for 8 hrs a day which caused alot of it then I switched it to 5 hours a day which reduced the algae alot. No point in having T5 lights on long unless u have alot of plants.

 

[cichlid2006]

i got the same thing and a film on top of the water. im geting rid of some fish and trying a start over the film/ oily subtance makes me nervous an old friend might have put green soap (some of my tattooing cleaner) in my stess coat bottle.

i think your talking about a protein film on the surface of the water. its from high protein foods you feed your fish. most common in predator tanks due to the extremely high protein foods used, ie carnivore pellets, fish fillet, prawns, feeders, etc.

as far as im aware more surface agitation should help to reduce it and also a way to skim the waters surface such as overflows leading to sumps/canisters. ive heard of people sitting those pads that only soak up oil on the waters surface, i dont know if its a good idea or not though but its something for you to look into.

OP: try floating plants to outcompete the algae, im using salviana (sp?). grows like wild fire but its an extra tool in the fight against algae. plecos help but they produce a lot of waste in the process which will feed the algae possibly compounding your problem.

 

[KaiserSousay]

There are 2 causes I can think of.
1. Nitrate levels too high, for too long.
2. Lighting, but not from being on too long, but the lights being in the wrong “spectrum”.
I had a horrible brown algae problem. Stuff grew on everything. Seemed to grow right back as I was cleaning it off of the glass.
It was just luck that redoing my lights, from fluorescent to an under cabinet system, my brown algae turned green. This is in a tank that has been running for well over a year.
No other changes were made, other than the lights.
I have no clue as to what “K” value these new lights are, so don`t ask.

 

[vfc]

From my experience with brown algae, I have found three things in common:

1 - Newly established tank

2 - Tap water quality

3 - Lighting

1 - I always get brown algae when I set up a new tank. After a few months it goes away; without adding or changing anything in the aquarium. I just set up a new tank a few weeks ago and moved a fake cave from an established tank into my new tank. Within a couple weeks, the cave was covered with a thick layer of brown algae; interesting thing is that cave was in a tank for about two years and had no algae on it.

2 - My tap water also causes it. For example, my sister gave me her 75G tank, fish, and contents last year. It was set up and running for about ten years; no algae and water was clear. I brought along three 5G buckets to move the gravel, plants/ornaments, filter pads & sponges, and fish. A few hours later I had the exact setup running at my house. The only thing different is the water (my public water vs her well water). Within a week, I had brown algae everywhere. BTW - I also have surface oil (protein?) out of the tap.

3 - I set up a new tank and put white egg-crate divider in it. Brown algae started growing on it, but only in a circular pattern near the top by the light fixture. All other areas of the divider had absolutely no brown algae. The light fixture has a low wattage florescent bulb. Two weeks later, I added another light strip (put it next to the original). It has been only a few days; yet I can see the brown algae is starting to fade. So light intensity also affects it.

I am not alone. When Big Al's opened their new store a couple miles from me, their giant shark tank and most all of the fish tank where loaded with brown algae for weeks. Big Al's corporate experts from Canada and their local aquatic specialist couldn't clear up the brown algae any faster than I could. All they did (as far as I could tell) was clean all the tanks daily until it went away.