brown algea

[yzf450motoxrider]

i know nitrate and phosphate cause brown algea to develope. But what about silica? I have a brown algea problem and i use pool filter sand which has alot of silica in it. I was wondering if this could be the cause of the algea.

Thanks

 

[Rockhoe14er]

brown algae is ususally diatomes. Is it easy to scrape off? This will go away over time. Otto's eat this stuff.


Silica is usually the reason so over time when your silica levels go down this will go away. Doing more frequent water changes will help with this.

 

[cichlid2006]

Here is an article http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_freshwater_algae.php that gives explainations of different algae types in the aquarium.

 

[jbarbaresi]

i know nitrate and phosphate cause brown algea to develope. But what about silica? I have a brown algea problem and i use pool filter sand which has alot of silica in it. I was wondering if this could be the cause of the algea.

Thanks

like the others have said brown algae is usually diatoms. what size tank and what kind of lighting? usually insufficient light output will cause diatom problems as well. is your water cloudy brown as well? do you only notice the algae on glass or does it seem to be like a "dusting" over all your surfaces?

 

[bob965]

I looked this up back when I was having the same problem. From what I understand, silicates do contribute to diatom algae formation, however the silica in rocks and sand is more or less insoluble and doesn't contribute to the concentration of silicates in the water.

Here's a useful article: http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article85.html