# Brown Elgae



## ajbwrg (Nov 11, 2011)

I have brown elgae on everything in my tank and also in the water, What's going on ? I have reduced the on time on my lights from 10 to 7 hrs. what else can i do diffrent


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## ajbwrg (Nov 11, 2011)

and my plants are going brown.


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## ajbwrg (Nov 11, 2011)

and my plants are going brown


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## Dietmar (Dec 15, 2011)

How many watts per gallon do you have?
Brown algae usually grows when not enough light is present. Also you could do a partial water change to get rid of some of the nutrients the algae is feeding on.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Why don't you show a pic of your tank and describe your entire setup so that we can have some idea what we're dealing with. Things like temp, pH, CO2 injection, lighting wattage and type, hours of lighting, fertilization scheme, substrate, tank volume, water change interval, type and amount of plants. How long has the tank been set up for and when did the algae start appearing, etc. Filtration means and how much circulation (powerheads), will also help. Dealing with planted tanks and algae are not an exact science, so each person's experience can be different.


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## ajbwrg (Nov 11, 2011)

1.56 watts per gal, I just bought these 2 weeks ago, the elgae started about 3 days ago


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

I'm no algae expert but brown algae growing on the glass and on the surface of rocks etc is a diatom bloom. Similar to the below picture.









What are diatoms you ask?
Diatom is a very common type of algae which occurs most of the time towards the end of a tanks' cycling period. It is typically tan or brown in colour.

What causes it?
"Causes of diatoms
Virtually all new aquariums will go through a diatom bloom, which is nothing to worry about. Once they've reduced the excess nutrients they thrive on - particularly silicates - they will die back and other algae will move in unless limited by plant growth. In more mature aquariums, the cause of diatom blooms may be excessive nitrate and other nutrients, a lack of light - which diatoms don't really require but which will stunt other competing plant growth - or insufficient oxygen."

How can I do to get rid of it?
"Treatment - In a new tank, just wait until the bloom passes. In an older tank, do a clean-up and several large water changes to reduce the nutrient load. You may need to treat your tapwater if the problem is persistent. As with all algae solutions, heavy plant growth will out-compete diatoms - you'll need to provide sufficient lighting and the correct micronutrients for plants. Some fish and snails will browse on diatoms, but only a full environmental clean-up will suppress them if they occur in mature tanks."
Source: Algae control in a freshwater aquarium

Other resources:
Brown Algae, Diatoms In Freshwater Tanks

It's not that bad of a problem and can be easily resolved. Once your tank matures and the cycling stabilizes, the re-occurrence decreases. Just keep up with water changes, ensure you don't overfeed and have left over food (which causes an increase in phosphates), and you're all set.

Good luck.

Source: http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/freshwater-chat-9/brown-algea-rock-glass-high-phosphate-level-22007/


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## ajbwrg (Nov 11, 2011)

[/ATTACH]
Okay so its a 150 gal tank it has a 300 watt heater, 1- Rena XP4 filter,2- air stones, 2 - 36" Coralife double fixtures with 6700k lamps and a 48" coralife double fixture with the same bulbs. There are about 30 Neons, 10 cory's,8 platy's,8 Guppies,3 apple snails ( large ) 2- Longfinned Albino Bristlenose, Mountain Fan Shrimp, the temp is 80, ammonia is 0, nitrate is 5.0, nitrite is 0 , PH is 7.4. I do not use any co2 or fertilizers at the moment, The plant are new I'm just getting into it. The tank has ben up and running for about 5 months now


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## ajbwrg (Nov 11, 2011)

I do a 20% water change every week. and i use small gravel for substrate. There is very little elgae on the glass is on everything in the tank


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## taureandragon76 (Apr 21, 2010)

One of the problems that I can see is you don't have enough filtration for your size of tank, I would get another xp4 to add to your setup, if you add more flow you may see less of this problem. Also diatoms seem to be more common with newer setups. Another thing to check is if the bulbs in your lights are old they may need to be replaced which can also be another cause. Also you have a decent amount of light over the tank but by the looks of your tank you have very minimal plant's in your setup.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

You have very little plant mass in there, so there isn't uptake going on. I'd get more filtration as Aaron says or maybe get a powerhead in there for more circulation. How often do you clean the filter? Since you recently introduced the plants, the tank is likely just finding a new balance. I'd wait it out a bit.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

It is a beautiful set up with huge potential. Wish I have the space for that.

With the amount of light you have, there will be algae growth for sure even thought there does not seem too big a bio-load. Hope you are not overfeeding though.

I would add a lot more plants in to take up the nutrient to out compete the algae. For that size of tank I would add at least 4 to 6 more adult BNP is there and you should be fine. Another XP4 will not hurt.


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

Brown algae is usually Diatoms as stated earlier. Otos and snails will eat it. More plants would help, too many nutrients for that load of plants to handle.


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## AquaSox (Jun 9, 2010)

I've always found that brown algae is a transitional algae...it never hangs around for long. So as stated above you can wait it out for a while. Or as others have also mentioned ottocats will wreck that algae.


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## cdsgo1974 (Sep 25, 2011)

I went through the same problem with diatoms when I started about 4 months ago. These are the things that help me address the problem:
1) I changed both of my light bulbs to the 6700 white light bulbs. One was Actinic as the light fixture usually comes with one white and one actinic bulb.
2) Injected CO2 -- I started with a DIY, but that will not work for you as you have a huge tank, unless you have a lineup of 6 CO2 reactor 1 litre bottles. You will need a pressurized CO2 system.
3) In addition to the CO2 injection, apply Seachem Excel
4) Plant more plants. However, not just any plant but fast growing plants like Wisteria.
5) Stopped overfeeding my fish. I fed my fish small amounts, once in the the morning and then again early in the evening when I come home from work.
6) I scrubbed the tank down wherever there's brown algae as human intervention is still faster. Also, I scrubbed the tank just before I do a water change.
7) Once I got the fast growing plants, I also started doing EI dosing to help the plants grow even faster so they can deplete the available nutrients in the tank that would otherwise be available to the algae.
8) Also, bought an army of Siamese Algae Eater. Be extra careful not to buy the Chinese Algae Eater instead as they normally stop consuming algae once bigger. Also, Chinese Algae Eater become very aggressive.

That's all I know 

cheers


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## ct22 (Feb 5, 2012)

its jut your cycle and possible not enough light thats wut having a fish tanks is man maintenince thats one of the bigger parts of the hobby youll always haave algae so keep it clean if it buggs you


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