Help with Brown Algae......

JohnnyD44

sounds good guys...I'll pick up a timer on my way home from work at lowes....what od you think? 8 to 10 hours? more? less?

i get home from work and settled in by 4pm...till 10pm...isn't enough I know now, should i set it to be at like 3-11pm?

I'm glad you guys helped me figure all this out, I am gonna keep the rocks I think and see how the diatoms go with new lighting schedule

1077

Considering that the tank is not new, I might consider running some fresh activated carbon in the filter for a few days maybe a week along with longer light period as Byron has suggested. I might also check the tapwater for nitrates and see if this too could be contributing to elevated nitrAtes. I might also reduce feedings to once a day and also reduce the amount. Many fish foods contain phosphates. I will assume that the substrate is being vaccumed each week. I usually split my tank into thirds ,and do a good gravel vaccum on one third of the tank each week ,with a different one third being vaccumed each time. Will also assume that only one person is feeding the fish during the day. When I was much younger and living with the folks, I had a 55 gal with an Oscar and a Dempsey. I kept having trouble keeping the water parameters in check and discovered that my three sisters were also feeding my fish each day after returning from school. Not sayin this could be happening, just offering some things to consider.

mollies

Agreed Byron. I use the 4 watts because the tank has black back ground painted on the tank and it still looks dark when i was at 2 watts. My alge stoped when i did that and increased the timeing on the lighting. Johnny i would do 10 to 12 thats up to.

Byron

This would concern me due to the fish. Four watts per gallon is a lot of light; I would not even approach that intensity in a thickly planted tank--I only have 1 watt per gallon, and it is certainly not dark even with a black background. The plant and fish colours sparkle naturally.

I don't know (or can't remember) what fish you have, but remember that most of our aquarium fish occur in very low-lit waters, shaded by overhanging trees and vegetation, and the fish are not "programmed" for bright light. While the tank may appear dark to you on the outside, to the fish it is anything but dark. And yes, there will be those who say this is irrelevant, fish can adapt, etc, etc...well, they know as little about this as I do biologically. My approach is always to provide the closest environment I can to the natural habitat of my fish. While doing otherwise may appear to be OK, I cannot tell what effect it may be having on the fish internally. Replicating their natural habit as reasonably close as I can gives me the confidence that they will probably be healthier.

Byron.

Byron

Schedule the light period to coincide with your viewing period; I would start with 8-10 hours of light, plus reducing the nitrates, and see what occurs. Remember, as long as the nitrates are high, increasing the light is going to encourage other algae. B.

JohnnyD44

So what length would you leave them on byron??

1077 - thanks for the advice....tap water nitrates test around 10ppm.....as did my last house......and yes, I feed my fish once a day at 4pm, when I get home....my wife doesn't touch anything with the tank, so i'm the only one feeding them, I know that for a fact....yeah yes I gravel vac 1/3 to maybe a half each week....

nomel

To back up the lighting cause, I had a dim old bulb, changed it to a brighter bulb and (by chance) moved the tank to a brighter area of the house...brown algae mostly went away. Haven't had my new tank set up long enough.

Byron

Myself, I would start with 8 hours and monitor. Two hours may not seem like much of a change from your current 6, but to plants like algae it is significant. To illustrate: one suggested remedy for green algae, brush algae and hair algae problems is to break up the light period during the day, with 5-6 hours on, 1-2 hours off, then 5-6 hours on again; and then the total darkness of course. This is said to discourage (and even kill off) algae which cannot make use of the reduced light periods but the higher plants have no problem. Not suggesting you need this, it is only an example of how a slight change can affect algae. Increasing the light by 2 hours may be enough to discourage diatoms, but not enough to encourage green algae.

Byron.

JohnnyD44

Thanks Byron. I think we were posting at the same time, and yours hit right before mine regarding length of time.

I'll pick up a decent timer, the only other one I have is packed away with the christmas lights, lol....thanks for everyones help.....it is greatly appreciated, and most importantly...I learned something!!!!

Thanks again

johnny