darn brown algae

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

I'm soooooooo sick of brown algae covering my plants and glass, please help me before i shut the tank down......Am i just suffering new tank syndrome since i replaced the sand to gravel and daltons aquatic mix ?

* Tank size - 120L - 80x40x40

* Lighting - 3x 10,000K 24w T5 lights (looking at changing 2 of these to 1x Life Glo and 1x Power Glo - but not sure if that will help)

* CO2 - weekly dosing of Flourish Excel as I have twisted val in the tank and dont want it to melt. however i have just setup DIY in a 1.5L bottle (maybe this will help)

* Nutrients - weekly dosing of Flourish Comprehensive and daltons aquatic mix under the gravel

* Water Changes - 1x Weekly 40 to 50 %

i seem to have pretty good plant growth for my vallisneria spiralis, cabomba caroliniana and Hygrophilia Corymbosa Stricta but the sagittaria microfolia doesnt seem to be growing at all.

who would have thought that growing plants and keeping algae at bay could be so hard

[Bilbo]

Otocinclus!

These guys are amazing. A few in your tank and it will be gone in a week.

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

thought about that but would prefer to get to the bottom of the problem

[SamH]

How long's the tank been going? I'd say new tank syndrome, almost all tanks get it. Just keep up the water changes and manually remove most of it.

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

How long's the tank been going? I'd say new tank syndrome, almost all tanks get it. Just keep up the water changes and manually remove most of it.

had the tank itself about 2 years now - but just changed the gravel and added the daltons aquatic mix in the last month or so

[SamH]

Likely a nutrient imbalance. I'd stick with frequent water changes and manual removal still...

[supasi]

had the tank itself about 2 years now - but just changed the gravel and added the daltons aquatic mix in the last month or so

Thats pretty much a new tank environment. I agree with Sam. It will go eventually. BN's also love the brown Algae.

How did you manage to add Daltons Aquatic mix without rebuilding the whole tank? You must of had to remove all water? It is very rich in nutrient and will be a nightmare forever if you allow it access to the water column.

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

Thats pretty much a new tank environment. I agree with Sam. It will go eventually. BN's also love the brown Algae.

How did you manage to add Daltons Aquatic mix without rebuilding the whole tank? You must of had to remove all water? It is very rich in nutrient and will be a nightmare forever if you allow it access to the water column.

yeah it was a complete rebuild, took the plants and fish out - removed the old sand, had about 1cm of water in the tank only cause i couldnt get it out, put in the daltons, then a nice big thick layer of gravel, and replanted. i kept about 60L of water and put that back in before topping up and putting the fish back in.

i would have thought that keeping the water would have been ok but maybe its not ?

[supasi]

Nope, You just added a whole substrate full of nutrients. Its the nutrients that feed algae.

Your tank will go through a cycle also as a lot of nitrifying bacteria will reside in gravel.

So basically it is a whole new set up its just that the filter is already seeded. It just needs to cycle. So keep up your water changes. It will help with both algae and the cycle.

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

ok will start doing more than 1 a week, what do you think about the lights ? should i keep them all 10,000K or should i swap 2 out for a life glo and power glo ?

[dreams]

How old are your current lights? Are they T5HO lights? If they're about 2 feet long and at 24watts each then I imagine they are.

Power glos are at 10,000k I believe, while lifeglo is at 6500k. With three tubes 24watts each, you should have enough light to grow

almost all plants.

You'll always have algae, I just usually find you'll either have brown or green depending on how much light you have.

So apart from brown algae, is there any green?

[phoenix44]

Power glos are at 10,000k I believe,

18000K though not strictly restricted to that range. added blue and red.

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

The lights are only about 3 weeks old - yep T5HO 24w 2foot long. the last T8 powerGlo i had was 18,000K - as far as i can see there is no green algae just the brown.

[DennisP]

I also say, new tank syndrome.

My 60L tank has it now. Starting to decline again...

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

it better go soon - i hate brown algae so much now...

so how do i get the sagittaria microfolia growing "better" than it currently is ? i say better but really it should be - what the heck do i need to do to get any growth at all... it seems like its doing nothing !!!

[DennisP]

When did you add it?

They have to establish a decent root system befoer they start growing properly. The brown algae wont be helping either.

[Stella]

I may be wrong, but my understanding is that brown 'algae' is an accumulation of dead silica shells of diatoms (a type of funky microorganism).

Thus algae eaters will ingest it while they are sucking on rocks etc, but it doesn't really mean food for them, just a whole lot of silica (a mineral, the basis of glass).

So if you do use algae eaters to clean up this new-tank symptom, just remember there isn't real food-value in it, and they will need proper supplementary food.

I agree with others, just deal with it until the tank establishes properly.

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

When did you add it?

They have to establish a decent root system befoer they start growing properly. The brown algae wont be helping either.

they were all planted at the same time when i redid the tank. the other plants have re-rooted nicely i know this because i moved a plant the other night and i felt the roots holding tight.

I may be wrong, but my understanding is that brown 'algae' is an accumulation of dead silica shells of diatoms (a type of funky microorganism).

Thus algae eaters will ingest it while they are sucking on rocks etc, but it doesn't really mean food for them, just a whole lot of silica (a mineral, the basis of glass).

So if you do use algae eaters to clean up this new-tank symptom, just remember there isn't real food-value in it, and they will need proper supplementary food.

I agree with others, just deal with it until the tank establishes properly.

I have a large SAE in that tank but hes not eating that brown algae - maybe i need to swap the SAE with a Golden Algae Eater i have in my other tank into this tank for a little while.

[Jennifer]

As others have said, brown algae is usually just diatoms that bloom as a result of high dissolved silicates or an ammonia spike. Since this tank was established for a while, I would guess it isn't the silicates as much as it was an ammonia spike resulting from the lack of nitrifying bacteria in the new substrate you have added. As others have said, Otocinclus will eat it, but it also will usually pass after a few weeks.

If you are doing increased water changes, take care to change little amounts often rather than large amounts. You will have a lot of nutrients in the water column from the new substrate and if you add fluctuating CO2 levels from the water changes, that can cause an outbreak of much more serious algae. I would recommend dropping your photoperiod to about 6 hours, above all else this will help keep the algae at bay and the plants will still thrive. Then, as the tank settles and the brown algae dissapears, gradually increase things as you increase carbon and nutrients to match.

[fordayzbro]

I agree with all posts above...

I battled with this brown algae twice in my current tank. I found the best way to manually remove it, is to use an airhose to siphon it out. That way you can target the algae without disturbing the substate or plants too much.

Reduce the photo period and adjust the dosing.

You will get through it!!!!!!!

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

thanks for the replys i will reduce photo period and do small water changes every 2nd or 3rd day for a few weeks. i didnt think too much about the ammonia side of things because i thought i had done enough with keeping old water etc

As others have said, brown algae is usually just diatoms that bloom as a result of high dissolved silicates or an ammonia spike. Since this tank was established for a while, I would guess it isn't the silicates as much as it was an ammonia spike resulting from the lack of nitrifying bacteria in the new substrate you have added. As others have said, Otocinclus will eat it, but it also will usually pass after a few weeks.

If you are doing increased water changes, take care to change little amounts often rather than large amounts. You will have a lot of nutrients in the water column from the new substrate and if you add fluctuating CO2 levels from the water changes, that can cause an outbreak of much more serious algae. I would recommend dropping your photoperiod to about 6 hours, above all else this will help keep the algae at bay and the plants will still thrive. Then, as the tank settles and the brown algae dissapears, gradually increase things as you increase carbon and nutrients to match.