I have Brown Algea appearing on some of my gravel an ornaments in my 10g. It's in the final stages og cycling for the second time due to an error I made. I haven't changed the water much the last few days so as to let the bacteria bloom.
1.) what's causing it?
2.) How to I get rid of it? Just clean the ornaments and do a gravel vac?
Brown algae is very common in new tanks. For now just give it time and allow the tank to become more established. Keep up with regular water changes and gravel vacs. It will almost definitely clear up over time, if not though you may have some nutrient problems.
silicates, high nitrates, low oxygen, too little light and a variety of other things.
Honestly, brown algae is pretty rare in established tanks. You're far more likely to find yourself with a different type of algae problem on your hands.
Well that's definately not me. The suface is broken via a Whisper 10 HOB that actually creates a little current in front of it and going down the front at the top. My loach swims in it all the time.
My Nitrates are usually between 10 and 20. The Bottled spring water I use has about 10ppm nitrates right out the bottle. And it's the only water I can use. The Tap water here is contains 2ppm of Ammonia, and the water sold at the LFS is like 5 bucks a gallon. 74 cent bottled spring water does the job.
I have the light on from when I wake up until I go to bed.
I may have high silicates though. All my ornaments are made of resin. My sunken ship is plastic. So that may be the only thing form that list of causes that I have. But like you said, it's in the Nitrite stage of cycling (Again, Uuuuuuuuuuuugh!) so that's why it's probably happening.
Quick question: I found out why my Nitrite phase was taking so long. I was changing too much water too often and removing bacteria. I kept doing water changes enough to bring the Nitrites back to near 0 and every day they would climb back, because I removed too much too often.
I've done one 2.5 gallon change since I learned about this about 4 days ago. About how long before my Nitrites start going down on their own? It's been holding steady at 1ppm for about 4 days straight until I did a small water changes just now. How long before It'll go down? Another week? two weeks?
If you've got 10ppm of nitrates right out of the bottle then, yeah, that's probably the issue. It would probably be a good idea to find a different brand of water. Probably the reason the water your LFS sells is so expensive is because it is R/O or distilled water. Weird, cuz my LFS sells it for like 25 cents a gallon, but that's still probably the reason.
If you've got 10ppm of nitrates right out of the bottle then, yeah, that's probably the issue. It would probably be a good idea to find a different brand of water. Probably the reason the water your LFS sells is so expensive is because it is R/O or distilled water. Weird, cuz my LFS sells it for like 25 cents a gallon, but that's still probably the reason.
Interesting. I though Spring water was spring water, so I didn't think changing brands would do anything.
Also, Now that I think of it, the algae started appearing shortly after my ghost shrimp died (due to the tank finishing the cycle. Poor guy couldn't handle it). It very may well be the reason I never saw it before, because it was busy scowering the tank.
I never thought to add distilled water because isn't it devoid of vital minerals fish need?
I'll ask my LFS again about their water. It is R/O water, I remember them saying that/ I'll double check on the price.
You're correct in that R/O water is devoid of minerals. I don't recommend using that, as you'll have to add all the nutrients back which is a pain in the butt, not to mention an extra expense.
Spring water varies greatly by brand. They have different water sources and different processing methods. I'd say it's worth poking around and trying a few different brands.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Tropical Fish Keeping
597.8K posts
83.7K members
Since 2006
forum community dedicated to tropical fish owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about species,breeding, health, behavior, aquariums, adopting, care, classifieds, and more! Open to fish, plants and reptiles living in freshwater or saltwater environments.