Tank is almost 3 months "settled" now and just wondering what this rust coloured growth could be? would be okay if it was just on the glass cause i could clean that but it's on the plants and now the lovely rocks too.....

Any sort of fish/creature that would control it and also survive the Brichardis and their high ph water?

Will post photo once i work out how.....

http://db.tt/yHzi51a

Brown algae.

Golden Algae Eaters love it.

Well I had the master plan to try the "algae fix" product to see if it got rid of the problem..... Put in the exact amount as per the instructions.....

Alas all but one of my Brichardis kicked the bucket..... Still lots of algae though....

Would the golden algae eat survive in high PH water and just wondering if Brichardis would give them a hard time?

had a GAE in my malawi tank for years

brown 'algae' are the silica (mineral) shells of tiny microorganisms call diatoms. While some algae-eaters do eat it, there is minimal food value in it.

Algae-rid only kills green algae, and there are ways of doing that without adding chemicals.

Both fix the symptoms, not the problem. With brown algae, the problem is usually that the tank is still maturing and will go with time. This is normal for new tanks.

Both fix the symptoms, not the problem. With brown algae, the problem is usually that the tank is still maturing and will go with time. This is normal for new tanks.

Yep - lasts about 3 weeks but drives everybody nuts while they've got it.

Well my tank has had it bad for about three months now so there must be something else amiss?

three weeks sounds a bit short to me, then again every tank is different.

ahh, yeah, i guess I countered mine with co2, plants, lights and ferts very early on. It quickly turned to green algae which I was then able to manage.