brown algae/mould...

[birdman]

hey all i have this brown algae or mould that forms on my plants (they are plastic) and it also forms on my flat rock and all over the glass. it starts in patches on the glass and then spreads...u can almost see it spreading it so fast...

i got a magnet brush for the glass and that works for about 2 or 3 days and then it begins to appear again...sometimes so fast as over night.

does anyone else have this prob?
how can i get rid of it on the plants and rock?
any fish that will eat it happily? or water treatment?

it looks really bad.....

 

[mike777]

Get a pleco. He will gladly eat it!! I've also had this problem so I bought a brush and used that and it seems to be working for me! HTH

 

[birdman]

so a pleco will eat it all?

they are so darn expensive.....

 

[iloveyou]

plecos rule... they are like $4 canadian here... and they do wonders... hell get bigger and clean more .. they rock

 

[birdman]

a 4 inch plec here is about 80 au dollars....

and ive been told they are really messy???

 

[noelberg]

First some questions:

What is your nitrAte level?
Does the tank get direct sunlight?
How often or how much do you feed the fish?

I have found that since I feed my fish once per day i have a LOT less brownish algae stuff growing on my rocks and substrate. Pleco alternatives you might enjoy are Oto's and Flying foxes. I've also found out that swordtails and (I think) Mollies and possibly Platies will eat algae, especially if you don't overfeed them - they're not like a pleco, but they're nice. Snails can be another option.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Is this a brown slime algae that you can easily wipe off with your fingers?

If it is then this is diatom algae, and most algae eaters won't eat it anyway.

I agree with the last poster, better to find the problem at the root rather then stick on temperary band-aid solutions that don't really solve anything.

-I will repeat the point of feeding because this is most commonly the problem. Almost all fishkeepers overfeed, some rather excessively. These cold blooded creatures do not need a lot of food to get by, and you should feed accordingly. How often, and how much do you feed?

-What is your water change schedule like? How often do you vacuum the gravel? It is important that both of these maintenance routines are done often enough to keep the water clean of undesirable elements such as nitrates, which contribute to algae.

-Is the tank overstocked? Cramming fish into the tank is a good way to degrade water quality quickly, which in turn leads to algae problems.

-How long has the tank been set up? With newly established tanks a break out of brown algae is fairly normal, and as long as you don't overfeed or neglect the tank it will reduce and eventually stop appearing altogether.

 

[staredecisis]

Last night I accidentally left my fish tank light on for like 18 hours, because I didn't make it home when I thought I was going to. Now this morning I have this same brown algae stuff on everything, not the kind that easily wipes off. If I keep my tank in the dark for awhile, will it die off and go away?

 

[staredecisis]

bump.

Anyone?

 

[Adrinal]

OK FIRST... I agree slow down on the pleco madness.
brown algea = biosphere with extra nutrients that have no where to go. AKA nasty water.


1) is your light on a timer if not that is your FIRST PURCHACE. Control your lighting and get it on a schedual.
2) deal with your water issues.


if you can't control your tank you can't control your tank. Don't hand the job over to a fish.
.........................................................................................................


PLECOS SUCK (ok they don't but you should know all about them and the subspecies that you are getting before you run out and purchace one).

ONLY THE DWARF PLECOS ARE "GOOD" FOR A TANK UNDER A POND SIZE!

Yes, plecs and other huge fish can be kept in tiny tanks with huge filteration... but I am going to go on a limb here and say that is crule and not right and actually does not help the problem at all.

Getting algea eaters:
1) makes fish eat the stuff that shouldn't be in a tank in the first place.
2) if the tank was just margionally dirty the algea eater will tear through the algea and you will have to add more food to feed them... once again unbalancing the ecosystem WITH MORE CRITICAL MASS (hehe made that sound earth shattering didn't I )

 

[Adrinal]

Last night I accidentally left my fish tank light on for like 18 hours, because I didn't make it home when I thought I was going to. Now this morning I have this same brown algae stuff on everything, not the kind that easily wipes off. If I keep my tank in the dark for awhile, will it die off and go away?

You could brush it off yes.

I added some rocks with dead animals (SW LR) to a tank that has been running for 2 years (no there are no critters in there ATM). about 2 weeks latter I get the lights running (obviously the water is still dirty.. takes about 4-6 weeks for dead stuff to fully cycle). So soon as I get the lights running full strength. in ONE day compleatly white rocks are brown/green. I can see the algea growing like the slime creature from space. (got a tiny bit of "good" macro algea (like FW plants). Anyhow this stuff will die off when it has eaten all the dead materal. then it will die... then that will be eaten by more algea... the cycle will go till nothing is left to eat....
Now, I am not feeding any fish so no new nutrients are being added.
SO, our situations are different. but
1) get your lights on a timer!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2) cut back on the feeding for a few days.
3) clean off the brown stuff