stimpy29 Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 my tank has been set up for about a month now and im getting brown algae on the stones and front of the tank , has the tank not cycled long enough? it has about 15 plants , lights are on a timer and get 12 hours a day. it just under 4ft and hold 250 litres , and has 5 rummy noses , 6 zebra danios and a couple of 1cm bistlenoses and 2 leopard corys. i have 1 inch of dalton aquria mix followed by 1/2" of propergating sand and them friut salad stone on top , my plants are growing well and the glosso is spreading out about 5mm a day from some of the shoots. is it a case of letting it cycle more ? cut down lighting? increase lighting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danz Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 Im only new to this but my guess is too much light = more algae but wait until someone confirms this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 Brown algae is common and fairly harmless (yey) unlike some of the beard algaes. It seems to only pop its head up when there is excess nitrate in my experience. The bristlenose should eat it, and its easy to wipe off the front, but to reduce its growth just make sure to keep up with your 20% a week water changes. If you use a product like AlgaeFix make sure to have an air pump running as it really makes it hard to breathe in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stimpy29 Posted March 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 im doing water changes 3 times a week at the moment and yup it is easy to wipe the front of the glass , but just a thought i have about an inch of daltons aquaria mix would this help excellerate the growth of the brown algae? or will the tank just balance itself out? the plants love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 It is common in a newly set up tank and hopefully will disappear as the plants grow and the tank matures and balances. Just wipe it off in the meantime. Why are you doing so many water changes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stimpy29 Posted March 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 im only changing about 10-15% each time , hopefully im diluting the nitrates and slowing the brown down! i think that the fish appeciate it as well , my rummy noses have deep red noses that would put rudolf to shame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayci Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Your tap water may have high nitrates. Get a nitrate test kit and test the tank and tap water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stimpy29 Posted March 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 no we live on a farm and only have pure rain water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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