BROWN ALGAE Constantly

[Papillon]

I know that there is a difference between brown and green algae. I have heard that the brown stuff isn't really good to have, but I am not sure why..

It is in my 12 gallon tank, which has silk plants as well as a few Marimo balls and an Anarichis floating plant...

Can anyone, tell me why I keep getting it.. If I should take out the silk plants and simply buy a couple of more real plants etc....

This was the tank I had the snail epidemic! I love the suggestion someone posted to put zuchinni or lettuce in there and watch the snails attach themselves to it, and then take them out...

But seriously this borwn algae is really getting on my wick.. Any suggestions to get rid of it, and why is it there in the first place?

Thanks a lot.

Marie

 

[geKo]

Do weekly water changes if you havent been then start and to remove it use a razor blade if you have a glass tank.

As long as you keep nitrates low and change the water every 1 or 2 weeks you should be fine!

2 main causes of brown algae is not enough light and also it tends to happen to newly setup tanks that havent been fully established for over a month

 

[Papillon]

But my tank is established and cycled, water parameters are normal, and there is enough light and I AM STILL getting this stuff... argh....

 

[fishlover25]

well i had a problem with brown algea and i got some anacharis and with them came snails even tho i still have snails in there (been more than 2 months) they were GREAT. the algea went right away. and even now i still like the sanils. keeps my algea down

 

[TaffyFish]

Chances are you have have hard water, maybe high levels of silicates/phosphates too - you certainly must have plenty of nitrates if brown algae (diatoms) continues to be a problem in an established tank.

Best way to rid the tank of diatoms is to put in plants that will outcompete it for the nitrates - fast growing stuff like hygrophila polysperma would do the trick. I would also recommend adding 10ml of Tetra EasyBalance to a weekly water change of 2 - 2.5 gallons, I believe this stuff does exactly what it says on the bottle. You should then find that nitrates will rarely exceed 20ppm, the diatons will all but disappear and that the plants will flourish without need of further feeding - in fact you'll need to cut out 50% of the polysperma every 2 - 3 weeks!!