cause of algea?

[scottswald]

ok, in 1 of my tanks i havnt been too good with my water changed in a while.

i keep on getting a brown algea on my glass, is this because of of reduced water quality? what is the cause of this algea?

 

[sunvalley aquarist]

Nitrate and light

 

[Zander_The_RBP]

Nitrate and light

Yep these are the two most common things that cause algae problems in freshwater.



Nothing causes algae it's always present in your water it's just certain factors allow it to grow out of control. These factors are not limited to the 2 listed above numerous other things can affect algae growth as well, such as phosphates (any phosphates present will cause an algae explosion), ammonia, CO2, and silicates (i think, definately more of a problem in saltwater than in fresh)


Generaly algal blooms usualy occur becuase of 3 main things

Too much light (Definately the number one reason, whether too long a photoperiod or too high intensity light)

Nitrate (Nitrate dosen't contribute to algal growth as much as phosphates do but get out of control much more commonly)

and Phosphates




Nitrates and phosphates are both added when you feed the fish and when they defecate but nitrates definately increase much faster and are probably the reason you have problems in this under-maintained tank.

 

[Toby_H]

I slightly disagree with the above...

green algae tends to blossom when there is an abundance of nutrients including nitrates, light, phosphates ect...

Brown algae tends to blossom with an abundance in limited resources... not including light...

So check your nitrates... if they are acceptable then check your phosphates... for brown algae to thrive there is some carbon based nutrient inj excess... but not light...

 

[scottswald]

thanks for all the great replies, you've been very helpful

 

[rhodes_96]

I slightly disagree with the above...

green algae tends to blossom when there is an abundance of nutrients including nitrates, light, phosphates ect...

Brown algae tends to blossom with an abundance in limited resources... not including light...

So check your nitrates... if they are acceptable then check your phosphates... for brown algae to thrive there is some carbon based nutrient inj excess... but not light...

Good info,

It's most probably excess phosphates or silicates. Brown algae can be a pain to deal with especially if you have phosphate concentrations in your tap water. Test for phosphates.