Getting rid of Brown Algae

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J

JohnM

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 26, 2009
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Delaware
My tank is a 150 and has been setup since July 4th weekend. I am starting to get a buildup of brown algae. I have Pool filter sand as a substrate, a good size piece a mopani wood and only 3 other fake decor( a lot of open space). I have 2-Oscars, 1-Pbass and a stingray. Does anybody have any ideas of how to get rid of brown Algae? I bought a small bottle of Algae Control from Tetra but I am unsure if I should use it with a ray in the tank.

Any suggestions on ridding my tank of this crap.
Thanks
John
 
An algae scrubber always works, but if you have a lot of snails then your algae problem will be under control and the stingray will keep the snail population under control also. You might also want to consider a Pleco in the tank. (Although I am unsure if that would fair well with the ray) But Plecos are really helpful and fun fish to have IMO.
 
i think a pleco would hurt the ray, arent they known for sucking on slime coats thus making the ray susceptible to infection?
 
I just use an algae scrubber and a tooth brush and whatever I don't get is cleaned up by my pleco and balas. I have seen plecos and rays kept together without any problems before.
 
Sarah88;3523254; said:
i think a pleco would hurt the ray, arent they known for sucking on slime coats thus making the ray susceptible to infection?
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I heard the same thing and did not want to chance it. I gave my pleco to a buddy of mine before I got the ray.
 
Brown algae likes to settle when nitrates are kinda high and water isnt quickly moving. What sort of filtration do you have, how big is your tank and what are your parameters? It may be a matter of removing nitrates, if not, try reducing lighting. If those dont work, then I'd go with a scrubber or plants, ie refugium or pothos
 
If you're talking about the brown algae known as diatoms, I've had problems with that too. I find that bristle nose plecos work the best.
 
i had the exact same problem for day one when i set up my tank ... i tried everything i have fast moving water tried giving more light so the green would over take it tried less light and NOTHING i did helped.... so i thought it gotta be the light on my tank i have my other tanks were fine so i took my dual bulb t5h0 off and put a single t8 bulb on the tank for a month or two and BAM no brown algea and i have green algea on my driftwood and thats it ....

how long your tank been setup for ? what is the parametres of the water in the tank and in your tap water especially the nitrates and phosphates, how much do you feed ? what kinda light and what hours are they on and off for ? any power heads or anything to move or push water around in the tank
 
Pool filter sand is mainly silica sand, which aids in diatom growth. It will go away soon enough. Proper weekly water changes, and time it'll grow into green algae. Light schedules add to diatom growth too. It thrives on insufficient light. So either your bulbs are now not efficient or your lights arnt on long enough.
 
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