I am sick and tired of this Brown Algae. Help!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I don't use a light above my tank and don't get direct sunlight into my tank either, and have had brown algae for 6 years with the same substrate. It could be how your tap water is processed. The water processing plant in my area filters the water through deep filtration beds that have silica sand prior to storage, so basically there is no way around getting away from diatoms in my case.

I would test the silicate level of your tap water. Maybe your phosguard is exhausted way too early and you don't know it. The best test to see if phosguard is working is to get new phosguard. Test your tap water to confirm silicates are there. Run the tap water through the new phosguard, and test to see if you still have silicates from the water that comes out the other end.

https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-MultiTest-Silicate-Test-Tests/dp/B0002Z7SWQ

My easy fix, wipe the sides of the tank down with my hand during each water change, which is twice a week for me. It takes a while for it to come back.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Gourami Swami
Glass is a silicate,too, you know.
I would add pothos, and maybe step up wc. No plant will grow if the nitrogen is too low, and I'd bet that a terrestrial plant would outcompete diatoms.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrsE88
J. H. said:
Glass is a silicate,too, you know.
I would add pothos, and maybe step up wc. No plant will grow if the nitrogen is too low, and I'd bet that a terrestrial plant would outcompete diatoms.
Click to expand...

Didn't work for me. Still have brown diatom algae in a acrylic tank. I keep a relatively lightly stocked 240g.
 
  • Like
Reactions: J. H.
Rocksor said:
Didn't work for me. Still have brown diatom algae in a acrylic tank. I keep a relatively lightly stocked 240g.
Click to expand...
It didn't work for me at first, either. You need to keep adding plants and keeping the tank and their roots clean until you see a change. Also completely removing all the algae is important,or you are fighting an established enemy. Algae scrubbers are said to be really good,too.
 
J. H. said:
It didn't work for me at first, either. You need to keep adding plants and keeping the tank and their roots clean until you see a change. Also completely removing all the algae is important,or you are fighting an established enemy. Algae scrubbers are said to be really good,too.
Click to expand...

Problem is that the pothos have caused another problem in my tank, way worse than brown algae. The dreaded green spot algae, which didn't exist in the first 3 years with more fish in the tank and no pothos. So the pothos either brought it with them or it's caused some sort shift in the nutrients (for algae) in my tank.

Either way, my water is filtered with silica sand by the water treatment plant, so in the end I really can't get rid of the brown algae unless I keep the tank in the garage and in the dark for 20 hours, just like my quarantine tank. The ambient light (and fish waste) is just enough to spur brown algae growth. No point in keeping such a large tank if I don't see it whenever I'm in my living room, where I spend most of my time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: J. H.
Brown algae? Typically due to overfeeding/high waste + too much bad light (light more along the blue side of the spectrum tends to lend to more algae growth, try a warmer bulb that leans more towards yellow/red in the light spectrum). It's also fairly easy to clean off of the glass. Unless you have plants in your aquarium, only turn on the lights when you are in the room?
 
I have two tanks which are unlit and in a position where they get quite a bit of natural light although not direct. Over the summer months I get brown algae in the tanks. Over a number of years they have had substrate, no substrate, big messy fish, light stocking of a few small fish, no fish, plants, no plants but I have seen the same pattern. So I conclude the high level of natural light is the main cause. I find it very easy to clean off though so it doesn't really bother me.
 
Just get an l100 pleco. I won't run a tank without a pleco, light magnet cleaner once a week and all is good, even with tank that catch some sun, I have remove the pleco and it builds up daily.
Add some driftwood that the FH can't get underneath and the plec will come out at night and do it's work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: markstrimaran
If they are truly diatoms, then the silicate in the substrate could be a contributing factor, but I consider 20ppm nitrate high, to maybe doubling up on water change frequency, and amount, cleaning filters more often, having lights on only when viewing, and adding plants like pathos, papyrus, plants that are able to use ambient light would solve your problem.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kno4te
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom