Brown Algea Bloom

[sphenta]

Hi everyone. My tank has been up for 3 months now. Starting to get brown algea on gravel in front of tank right by the glass. Some plants are getting it also. Is this because it is a new tank? Or am I feeding fish too much or not enough light? Or is this a filter problem? Just looking for info on this. Thank you. Tina

 

[TabMorte]

We'll probably need more information - what kind of filter you have, how long your lights are on, what ferts are you using for your plants. Ect.

That said brown algae's really common in new tanks until they've had several months to 'settle' as it where.

 

[sphenta]

Here is more info. 20 gal. tank with fake plants. I don't keep my light on all the time. Plenty of light in room. Amminia is 0 the nitrites are 0 and the nitrates are 10 ppm. Every friday I do a 35% w/c and gravel cleaning. Every monday I do a 20% w/c and just wipe off the plants and stuff. With the fish I already have, not sure I could get one ott. Will be getting a 55 gal soon. The platy's will be going in that the rest of fish is staying in my 20 gal. Had 2 filters running. Just took one off and now running a whisper filter for a 60 gal. tank. I upgrated is what I did. I guess with new tank this happens. So I just keep wiping it. And don;t know if I could get an ott.
just wanted to know if this was normal or if I was feeding fish to much or doing something else wrong. Thank you for responding.

 

[TabMorte]

Ottos won't always eat brown algae (mine prefer the green it seems even though I bought them to eat the brown too) but just keep up with the water changes and whiping it off. It should pass. If it doesn't then worry about getting algae eatters.

 

[sphenta]

Thank you for your help. Today is not friday but I did a w/c and wiped the brown algae off. Came off pretty easy. So I will just keep doing that. I will hold off on getting oto's until later when I have my other tank. Don't want to push it right now. Thanks again. Tina