What is this?

[SLeigh24]

So inside the span of a few days I discovered this brown algae or whatever it is starting to cover my decorations. I didn't notice it until the spots became pretty large and now I can see some spots forming on the glass. I plan to do a tank cleaning and scrape the glass clean, but does anyone know whether this is in fact an algae? Seems to have developed quickly and I usually see either hair or the dark green kind.

 

[AnthonyFish20]

I got a busy nose pleco to eat the algae and it was gone in a day.

 

[SLeigh24]

Thanks! Like I said I haven't seen this type of algae in any of my tanks so far... I've been in the aquarium hobby for just over a year now so I'm still technically a noob. Is this brown kind indicative of a problem in my tank? Too much of something? Not enough? Just so I know if I ever see it again once this is cleaned up.

 

[Jexnell]

Algea growing in fish aquariums is a common and almost guaranteed thing. When you have free nutrients in the water colum (fish food, fish waste) then add light its bound to grow.
The thing I never got is where those first algae come from? Ride in on the fish as spores or some such. No clue.
You can control it several ways.
Let's it grow, adds more of a natural look and get a cleaning crew that can keep it in check. I suggest bristle nose pleco, and nerite snails.
Or you can lower the intensity of the lights or total hours on a day.
Or feed less, gravel vac more to remove uneaten food.
Lastly add a UV light to the system to kill off algae as its floating in the water colum.

 

[kno4te]

Does look like brown algae. Excess phosphate and silicate have been attributed to this. Manually scrub and water changes.

 

[islandguy11]

Does look like brown algae. Excess phosphate and silicate have been attributed to this. Manually scrub and water changes.

Yep, and unless you reduce phosphates & silicates, and/or get a good cleaner fish, and/or install a UV sterilizer, it'll spread pretty quickly in your tank. But it's really not bad for your tank, in fact some like the natural look of it.

If you do go the UV sterilizer route you'll need to scrub it off wherever you can see it so it becomes water borne and killed by the UV; takes a week or two of this depending on tank and UV size (also good to do scrubs right before a water change so some of the brown algae (actually diatoms), get siphoned out).

 

[BichirKing]

I used to run a phosphate reactor to battle this. I found that using probiotics (ridx) does a better job and is much more effective and cheaper!

 

[islandguy11]

I used to run a phosphate reactor to battle this. I found that using probiotics (ridx) does a better job and is much more effective and cheaper!

That's a good reminder to me thx, I was looking for something similar to Ridx here but wasn't able to find anything, I need to look harder.

By the way, do you put the Ridx in your filter(s) or directly into the tank?

 

[SLeigh24]

Thanks for the help guys! You all know so much