smidey Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 I have small amounts of a brownish type algae in my african tank. is there any recommended treatments to get rid of it? I have just enough algae for it to look a litle grubby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy_t Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 lots of african's like to eat it- what fish do you have? My fronts often crop the algae (and stuff that lives inside it) so I'm more than happy to have it cause for lots of them its their natural diet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted May 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 i have fryeri & yellow lab juvies but they dont eat it. i have really cut back their feeding over the last two days but they have not taken to feeding of the algae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy_t Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 I would cut the light down then - you shouldn't have them on for more than 10 hours max, and also I've got mystery snails (pet shops sell them as cold water) they are fine in tropical as long as you let them warm up slowly. They are nice big snails and the fish don't seem to bother them that much. They also breed like apple snails (eggs out of the water) so are easy to control numbers wise. They do like lots of food though so don't put in loads if you only got a wee bit of algae cause they won't survive... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted May 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 this tank doesn't get alot of light, some days dont even turn it on. it gets alot less light than my community tank which has no algae at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 I have been told that brown algae forms due to lack of light, and infact I have found that it is true, I had a small planted tank that had bugger all lighting on it till I purchased some more lights to put on the tank and prior to purchasing the lights I had brown algae hit will force, once sufficient light was put on the tank the brown algae disappeared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted May 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 you can almost see this stuff growing when the light is on, the problem is that its hard to reach the switch cause its behind the tank. i leave for work early & my pregnant wife (who is due in two days) cannot reach it. the community tank light switch is on the side of the hood so my children turn it on. I'll turn it on each morning & see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewelz Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Yes it is the lack of light that results in brown algae. You should have your lights on for part of the day to get rid of this problem Smidey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 My brown algae grew even with the light on, it was because I apparently didn't have enough intense light that it happily grew. This is what I have been told anyway and also something to do with nutrients in the water etc?? Someone correct me if I am wrong, as this has also puzzled me in the past, yet I don't have an issue with it in the African tanks, doesn't seem to show it's face. Just the planted tank in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted May 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 i have a "powerglo" tube to so it may not need as much as normal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted May 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Someone correct me if I am wrong, as this has also puzzled me in the past, yet I don't have an issue with it in the African tanks, doesn't seem to show it's face. Just the planted tank in the past. i am the opposite, no algae at all in my community planted but a fair bit in my african tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldogod Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 would this stuff grow on white coral?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 i am the opposite, no algae at all in my community planted but a fair bit in my african tank Could that be because your community tank has the lights on alot more often? would this stuff grow on white coral?? Yeap it can grow on white coral if the conditions are "right" pain in the butt algae huh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldogod Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 it is, my corals started to turn brown so maybe same thing?? how do you fix it??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy_t Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Hey I've been watching V for Vendetta and missed all of this! sounds like its different to the stuff I've got... I'll just listen now I think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewelz Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 More light will help reduce brown algae but this stuff will still flourish with or without light if the nitrate, silicate, phosphate levels are high. Silicates in particular enable brown algae to flourish. Starve em from these and you should solve the problem. If you have a silica based substrate then this can leach over time into the water as well bringing the levels back up slowly. You could try using a silicate absorbing resin in your filter along with more frequent water changes, gravel vacuuming and dont overfeed (hard I know when your cichlids beg you for just a little bit more) :roll: I had this problem with one of my tanks but by doing the above, I wiped it out now my pleco sure earns his keep and loves chowing down on the odd small patch of brown algae so its not around for long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig Posted May 30, 2007 Report Share Posted May 30, 2007 hi there, most african tanks get this algae,usually cause of the high ph,hardness of water etc. duboisi's love the stuff, and on the days that i didn't feed my fronts they trimmed it too. once a year i would take out rocks(dolomite) only half at a time, and scrub them,that then allows the rocks to leech those very important minerals into the water ie magnesium. only do half tank at time due to it will upset the whole setup if done in one hit.(waterchange 2-3wks apart). 6-8 hours lighting, get a timer. and get some duboisi's. shell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eben Posted June 8, 2007 Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 I've actually got a similar issue in my tank, with algae. I've tried the whole light thing I've even tried marine glo lights to try and kill it. No Luck. At one point I even had black algae. the interesting thing is that my silicate levels are pretty low and so are all other levels. I am a bit slack on my water changes and sometimes go up to 4 weeks between changes. When you guys say do not over feed what is considered overfeeding? I feed my tanks at most twice a day. I do have some tiny fronts in my tank now so it seems like they might trim it down? I've also got 2 Synodontis nyassae and 2 Synodontis multipunctatus These guys really do not seem to like the algae either. any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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