Hi,

My tank has been taken over by a horrible brown algae. This is the second time it's happened to a cycling tank in my house. Is it normal for this to come when the amonia goes up before the nitrites start to be produced? amonia is pretty low still at 0.25ppm but it's a 75L tank with 5 black neons so it'll take a while for it to build up.

I've just increased the photo period by 1 hour to 11 hours a day as there are plants in the tank and they looked like they could do with a bit more. I'm also using flourish excell daily and comprehensive weekly (or the other way round).

Is there anything I can/should do? Remove the rocks it has taken up residence on? Wait it out? The fish are happy and the plants are growing, it just looks bloody horrible.

I've got 3 new plants to put in today - should I put them in a quarantine tank until the brown is gone?

Thanks in advance.

Hi,

My tank has been taken over by a horrible brown algae. This is the second time it's happened to a cycling tank in my house. Is it normal for this to come when the amonia goes up before the nitrites start to be produced? amonia is pretty low still at 0.25ppm but it's a 75L tank with 5 black neons so it'll take a while for it to build up.

I've just increased the photo period by 1 hour to 11 hours a day as there are plants in the tank and they looked like they could do with a bit more. I'm also using flourish excell daily and comprehensive weekly (or the other way round).

Is there anything I can/should do? Remove the rocks it has taken up residence on? Wait it out? The fish are happy and the plants are growing, it just looks bloody horrible.

I've got 3 new plants to put in today - should I put them in a quarantine tank until the brown is gone?

Thanks in advance.

Happens to almost every new tank. Ignore it, it will usually go away. Especially if you have some algae eaters. Don't waste your time moving plants around, scrubbing rocks, etc.

Happens to almost every new tank. Ignore it, it will usually go away. Especially if you have some algae eaters. Don't waste your time moving plants around, scrubbing rocks, etc.

+1 that. I have some right now actually :roll:

ok cool, thanks all. Will it be OK to plant new plants in there while it's around?

I've got 3 new plants to put in today - should I put them in a quarantine tank until the brown is gone?

Hi,

+1 with Ira.

Could you tell us the name of these plants ?

Hi,

+1 with Ira.

Could you tell us the name of these plants ?

I've got Ambulia in there at the moment but I've got 3 swords on the way from alanmin - 1 ozelot, 1 rose and 1 uraguayensis - which will need to go into a tank as soon as they get here.

So I was looking at the tank today and trying to figure out why it was so much brighter than the AR126 next to it. Then I thought I'd better actually check why that is. Turns out I have 5.2 watts per gallon of light in a shallow tank with reflecting silica. :oops:

I turned half the tubes off (2 out of 4) and instantly the fish all joined their respective schools and started doing what they do best - flying fox was eating algae, pandas were sifting the silica, black neons schooled from end to end constantly and the new cockatoo dwarf cichlids even came out from their various hiding places. Seems I may have been overdoing it a bit.

So I now have 2.6w/g which is apparently plenty for my swords and a very lively tank with fish that don't have to hide from the blinding light. Fingers crossed it means the end of the algae too as it had gone from brown to green.

The things you learn...

Hate to say this but WPG is not at all an accurate measure of light.

Hate to say this but WPG is not at all an accurate measure of light.

Yeah, I know, and I've had conversations where I've said the same thing but the tank is definitely a lot happier since I made the change.

Yeah, I know, and I've had conversations where I've said the same thing but the tank is definitely a lot happier since I made the change.

That's good, so long as you don't use the WPG rule

That's good, so long as you don't use the WPG rule

OK, I'm now running 0.75 watts per litre where I was running 1.49 watts per litre :lol: :lol:

The black neons have got their neon back too - their colour got washed out for a few weeks there.

If you have four tubes and the plant is not properly established you would be best to cut the light output in half as you have done or cut the photoperiod down to about 7 hours or both until the plants are established and using more nutrient. You can then increase both slowly as the plant growth increases. Swords usually take a wee while to establish again after being moved. I am guessing that the three new plants are Echinodorus ozelot, rose and uraguayensis (psychic eh)

If you have four tubes and the plant is not properly established you would be best to cut the light output in half as you have done or cut the photoperiod down to about 7 hours or both until the plants are established and using more nutrient. You can then increase both slowly as the plant growth increases. Swords usually take a wee while to establish again after being moved. I am guessing that the three new plants are Echinodorus ozelot, rose and uraguayensis (psychic eh)

How did you know? Thanks for the tip, the uraguayensis has settled right in but the others have had a bit of a hard time. Nothing that can't be fixed but a couple of leaves didn't make it so far. I've pruned the dead/dying leaves right back to the base and the rest seem to be doing ok.

Now to stop the panda's from digging up the JBL balls... :roll: