Algae In My Tank, Please Help

[jamesmacc]

hey folks, had my tank running for about 7 weeks now, added fish 2 weeks ago and a couple of plants. the cichlids decided to pick away at one of the plants and now its looking a bit worse for ware. i have now noticed brown all over my rocks, it looks like it could be algae. how do i get rid of this, do i just get rid of the attacked plant and scrub the rocks?
cheers, james

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Will be Brown diatoms algae, very common in a new tank setup. A good maintenance routine and regular water changes will help, Brown diatom algae don’t have any firm attachment to the surface on which they are found so they clean off easily. A good way to control their growth is to remove as mush as you can during water changes lot. s the tank matures, diatom problems tend to fade.

 

[ApistoNut]

or you coould buy yourself an algae eater to maintain it?

 

[the_lock_man]

or you coould buy yourself an algae eater to maintain it?

That's treating the "symptoms", rather than the "illness". Better, IMHO, to treat the root cause of the problem. You don't know whether the OP has room in the tank for another fish.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Agree with lock man, algae is not a great food source for any fish then you will have to think about feeding after the algae has gone.

 

[Juggler75]

You don't know whether the OP has room in the tank for another fish.

According to his sig he has 385l stocked with 4 yellow labs so I'd guess there is enough room

In the malawi tank I maintain the rocks did brown up but it was due to the lights being on too long and after cutting back on the feeding the mbuna seem to love grazing on them during the day, the plec does the same at night. I've also found that the cichlids will try to munch any plants put in the tank apart from anubias and java fern that were attached to the rocks and have so far survived.

 

[jamesmacc]

You don't know whether the OP has room in the tank for another fish.

According to his sig he has 385l stocked with 4 yellow labs so I'd guess there is enough room

In the malawi tank I maintain the rocks did brown up but it was due to the lights being on too long and after cutting back on the feeding the mbuna seem to love grazing on them during the day, the plec does the same at night. I've also found that the cichlids will try to munch any plants put in the tank apart from anubias and java fern that were attached to the rocks and have so far survived.

i have my lights on for 12 hours a day, maybe i should cut it back to 8 or 10? with regards to water chnages i do 50% water change a week

 

[gatorsean]

yeah reduce your photoperiod to 6 hours a day for a few weeks and the algae should go away, and increase it back up to say 8 or 10 hours once you're happy with how it looks.

 

[Zikofski]

yeah reduce your photoperiod to 6 hours a day for a few weeks and the algae should go away, and increase it back up to say 8 or 10 hours once you're happy with how it looks.

from what i have learnt form this forum is you should have a test kit and test water regualy but i only got around 20 to 30% water change every week and test my tank before i do the water change and mid week to see how things are going

i used to have same algae problem like yours, did the same cut back on the light, it solved the problem now i keep the light on between 8 to 10 hours aday and have no algae what so ever

 

[Poseidons_daughter]

Just out of curiosity, is your fish tank receiving direct sunlight? The reason I'm asking is that direct sunlight plays a role in the development of algae. While it may or may not be possible for you to move the location of your tank, there are a number of ways you can better maintain your tank so that you inhibit the growth of this icky brown algae. As suggested, you can pick up an algae eater or two to help take care of the problem, however, I wouldn't leave it up to them entirely to take care of your algae problem. When routinely cleaning your tank, it always helps to replace a good portion of the water- but not all of it, as this could severely disrupt the environment and could cause your fishies bouts of stress. You may also want to check your filtration system to make sure that it is up to par with its job and that it's not faulty or not powerful enough for your size tank. Meanwhile, there are also water conditioners and additives, such as API Algaefix, which definitely helps with the clarity of your aquarium water as well as to control algae blooms. If you haven't used this or anything like it, you might want to give it a shot. Good luck mate!