Algae War Starts Now!

[aibo210]

Hi

can anyone tell me how do I shift this type of algae? it like a dusty brown colour that grows on the glass and plastic parts of my tank but never the plants! any ideas? driving me mad it crops up every week! I dont have any test kits so unable to tell you my water stats!

 

[cheesy feet]

All tanks have a bit of algae,but brown algae can be a sign of a newly set up tank...Is it?

 

[Sibelius]

Do invest in a test kit, even a cheap one if you really can't spend much money. We need to know your pH, GH, NO2, NO3 and ammonia readings, plus KH for CO2 readings. What size is your tank? if suitable some snails eat algae (getting the wrong type means they'll eat your plants too, ask another member for advice for what type of snails, but aqua essentials sell them, so I'd buy from there or a reliable LFS.)
Bristlnose plecs eat algae, as to otocinclus for the small aquarium.
Do you use a magnetic algae scraper? many people don't like these and they can scratch your glass, but when used with extreme care they can get the worst of the alage off.

You need to find the underlying cause of the algae, and to do this you need a comprehensive test result, and we need information like your tank size, it's occupants, and whatever else you can tell us about it, espcially your maintenance regime and it's hardware.

 

[Dave Spencer]

If they are brown diatoms, then a small group of Otos will sort them out.

Dave.

 

[aconnoll]

I had diatoms growing significantly worse probably around week 6 of my new tank. I invested in some Chinese Algae Eaters or sucking loaches or whatever they are called, only to find out that they grow large over time, get more aggressive as they grow and eat less algae when they grow aswell. At the moment they are 2-3 inches in size but have cleaned the entire tank free of visual diatom activity in 2-3 days. My entire bogwood was covered as were many plants, they have cleaned both dramatically.. Its looking great! Trouble is they poop an extreme amount so im forever gravel vac'ing large amounts of poop. I think ill take the good with the bad re CAEs, when they have grown they will be perfect for a large cichlid tank... Only reason I ended up getting CAEs over otos is because the Otos where I am are $12.50 each and CAEs are $4...