Brown algae on glass?

[demjor19]

Do any of you ever get that nasty brown algae (i think) on the glass of your tank? What causes this? My tank is not in direct sunlight and it doesnt seem like normal algae. It's also only showing up in two of my tanks. Any ideas?

Thanks,

 

[ericifish]

i have this same problem. whats your ph? this happens when you have a low ph, mines around 5.5-6, and its a pain. the brown algae blooms in acidic water

 

[Knowdafish]

Not enough light and too much nitrates. How often do you do water changes? What % ?
What's your tank load? What size tank?

 

[demjor19]

I do (2) 50% waterchanges on all of my tanks per week. I try to keep ph around neutral on all of my tanks as well. I'm not sure about the lighting...My Rhom tank doesn't even have a light and that doesn't get the brown algae.

Also...the two tanks that are getting the algae are single specimen tanks. There is no way it could be related to bioload. I will retest the ph on the tanks and see what i get.

 

[ericifish]

i dont know if you would consider this or not, but my pleco loves the brown algae. i dont know much about gar but maybe with somewhere to hide they could mingle

 

[demjor19]

i dont know if you would consider this or not, but my pleco loves the brown algae. i dont know much about gar but maybe with somewhere to hide they could mingle

Gar and plecos don't mix well and it's actually two of my smaller tanks that have the algae problem.

 

[cassharper]

it's actually a type of bacteria called Diatoms. Either of these tanks new? Diatoms feed off of silica with is high in new tanks (the silicone). Different forms of this do thrive on imbalanced light/nitrate levels.