Lots of brown algae

2084 Views 14 Replies 7 Participants Last post by dave56, Sep 26, 2013

Consp

Discussion Starter · Sep 18, 2013

After cleaning my 25 gallon aquarium it only takes a few days for algae to start showing up again on the glass and all over the plastic plants. I cover the tank for the two hours per day that the sun shines directly on it. My question: is the LED lighting causing algae to grow? How many hours per day should the light be on?

Any other steps i can take to limit growth so i don't have to clean the tank twice a week?

Thanks,

Consp
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henningc

· #2 · Sep 19, 2013

Octos and some snails will eat it. Your best to use a plastic paint scrapper just over the intake of your siphan tube when doing a water change. Don't just let scrapped off brown algea just hang in the water. This can cause an eco disaster in the tank. LED lighting may be an issue as as long as you don't have inverts, you can use mineral exhorbant materials in the filter.

I just live with the stuff until water changes.

avraptorhal

· #3 · Sep 19, 2013

Algae

Consp said:
After cleaning my 25 gallon aquarium it only takes a few days for algae to start showing up again on the glass and all over the plastic plants. I cover the tank for the two hours per day that the sun shines directly on it. My question: is the LED lighting causing algae to grow? How many hours per day should the light be on?

Any other steps i can take to limit growth so i don't have to clean the tank twice a week?

Thanks,

Consp
Posted via Mobile Device

Start reducing the lights on by 1/4 to 1/2 hour at a time until the algae disappears. I had to reduce the time by an hour in my DT and 1 1/2 hours in my Betta tank. It will take time for you to notice the difference but keep at it. I have a 2XT6HO over my DT and a Fuge RayII LED on my betta tank. Both tanks are on for approx. 10 hours.

Good luck.

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Hallyx

· #4 · Sep 19, 2013

Av's right. You want the minimum amount of light that your plants will flourish under. Same goes for nutrients/ferts.

That brown "algae" is really diatoms.

Nerite snails love their algae...diatoms, too.

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Consp

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 21, 2013

All,

Thanks for the responses. I think i may have found the problem. Some time ago i removed the air stones and replaced with something different. This was providing much less oxygenation to the water. I cleaned the tank yesterday, and unclamped the venturi valve so the filter output would produce bubbles and provide oxygen to the water (Fluval Accent Tank) Been 24 hours and where i would normally see lots of buildup on the glass and plants, up till now there has been none.

I did a google search on Thursday and found that one cause for brown algae is low oxygen levels in the water. Anyway, this seems to have fixed the problem. Hope this helps someone else.

Here is a link to the article i read...

Aquarium Algae - Causes and Cures for Brown Algae

One of the listed causes is low oxygen.

Consp
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dave56

· #6 · Sep 21, 2013

The cause of diatoms is high Silicate levels in your tap water. In new aquariums its fairly common to have diatoms for a while. It usually dissipates by itself in a few weeks. You can use RO wate in your water changes to eliminate or reduce it, as the silicate will be remove by the membrane in the RO unit. My tanks have been running for years, and I still get some diatoms in them. I have found that common Ramshorn snails clean it up pretty well.

Juggernaut122

· #7 · Sep 24, 2013

Hi guys,

Can someone clarify what needs to be done to 1) remove the algae and 2) prevent it from coming back?

I am confused with the different and sometimes contradictory answers.

Thanks!
Juggernaut

dave56

· #8 · Sep 24, 2013

You would have to use reverse osmosis water. All the silicates would be removed from it.However, RO water needs to be remineralized as its too pure for fish to live in. How long has the tank been running? Sometimes the diatoms will disappear in time on their own. Ramshorn snails will clean it up very well also.

avraptorhal

· #9 · Sep 24, 2013 (Edited)

Juggernaut122 said:
Hi guys,

Can someone clarify what needs to be done to 1) remove the algae and 2) prevent it from coming back?

I am confused with the different and sometimes contradictory answers.

Thanks!
Juggernaut

You say nothing about other plants in the tank. Do you have live plants? The only way to remove existing algae is to scrape it off in one fashion or another.

To prevent recurrence you must balance the nutrients and lighting for your tank. If you have live plants reduce the lighting (time) slowly or remove some of the light bulbs or sunlight.

You can also add ore or some live plants to use up the nutrition that is feeding the algae.

I hope this helps.

Juggernaut122

· #10 · Sep 24, 2013

avraptorhal said:
You say nothing about other plants in the tank. Do you have live plants? The only way to remove existing algae is to scrape it off in one fashion or another.

To prevent recurrence you must balance the nutrients and lighting for your tank. If you have live plants reduce the lighting (time) slowly or remove some of the light bulbs or sunlight.

You can also add ore or some live plants to use up the nutrition that is feeding the algae.

I hope this helps.

Hi,

I have no live plants - just the plastic ones.

Does more light help or less light?

There is no direct sunlight hitting the tank.

I have LED lights in the tank.

How exactly do I balance the nutrients?
How do I balance the nutrients without throwing off my nitrogen cycle?

How would I know if the ore or live plants were doing the job?

Thanks!
Paul

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dave56

· #11 · Sep 24, 2013

Since you don't have live plants, you don't need to worry about balancing the nutrients.
Silicate is the cause of the diatoms. If your tap water has a high silicate content, you will have diatoms in your tank. The 2 ways to rid the tank of it is, use reverse osmosis water, Which will need to be remineralized before you put it in your tank. Or purchase some Phosphate/ Silicate remover, and run it in your filter. The resin works best if used in a canister filter.

Reactions: 1

Hallyx

· #12 · Sep 25, 2013

In any case, nothing you do to mitigate diatoms (or algae, for that matter) will in any way effect you nitrogen cycle.

mcompagno

· #13 · Sep 25, 2013

I've found that Purigen helps with balancing the nurtients and stopping algae as well. But make sure there isn't a water parameter issue first that's causeing the algae.

Juggernaut122

· #14 · Sep 26, 2013

dave56 said:
Since you don't have live plants, you don't need to worry about balancing the nutrients.
Silicate is the cause of the diatoms. If your tap water has a high silicate content, you will have diatoms in your tank. The 2 ways to rid the tank of it is, use reverse osmosis water, Which will need to be remineralized before you put it in your tank. Or purchase some Phosphate/ Silicate remover, and run it in your filter. The resin works best if used in a canister filter.

Ok...so....

The algae in my tank is almost 100% gone in 2 days - spontaneously....no more....

What the heck? I did nothing to make it go away....My wife and I each wondered if the other cleaned the tank....neither of us did.

I am glad it is gone but I had brown algae in 2 colonies on the side of the tank and lots on most branches of the plastic plants...first the ones from the glass were gone and now almost all of it from the plants are gone....

Did my fish eat it? I have Molly's and glofish (danios).

We did have a nitrite spike in the tank that is now almost gone....do the algae eat it and they all died as the nitrites went down?

I am totally dumbfounded....

Juggernaut

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dave56

· #15 · Sep 26, 2013

It is common for diatoms to dissipate on their own after a while in new tanks.

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