Brown Algae

[moggy]

hi to all just recently upgraded from a juwel rio 125 to a juwel trigon 190 tank had no probs with the 125 but with the 190 i'm getting a brown tinge in the water and brown algae on the tank glass i have the lights on for 4 hrs in morning then 4 hrs at evening which was the same for the 125 tank i have a one 24 inch arcadia marine blue tube 18 watts not to sure what the other one is as writing on it can't be read it is a white light 18 watts i use the juwel internal filter with 600 powerhead doing a 10_15% water change weekly any ideas ? thanks for any replies

 

[paul_219]

What do u have in your tank? aIf the tank is overstocked it can be a problem also.

 

[Jazzyc]

As its a new tank you allways get a little brown algea... I had loads until i planted the tank and now I havent got any..... I just get little bits of green algea on the substrate from time to time.... which the ottos love!!

 

[sketchy]

try doing a forum search, i found a sticky somewhere all about algae, and there are a few threads kicking about with some great info

check this out there are plenty of helpful topics here, the one about algae is the first on the page

 

[sandfire]

Brown algae are normal in new tanks, just a sign of the cycling process, but other things contribute, such as lighting levels, and excess nutrients. What fish are in the tank now?

I would try:
Wiping all surfaces and vacuuming the gravel
Increase the lighting levels or decreasing if you're using particularly bright lights.
Stock a plec or several otocinclus…I always use this technique.
Add plants to compete against the algae, in well established planted tanks the plants remove the excess nutrients that the algae thrive on.

For freshwater aquariums with no fish big enough to eat them, I always found that Otocinclus catfish are brilliant at eating the stuff. 8 cleared a fully planted 100gal aquarium of mine in under a week.

I also have a Rusty Plec that clears a 350l tank all by himself.

 

[Dave Spencer]

This has some good advice, although it does refer to a high tech planted tank:

http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

 

[moggy]

This has some good advice, although it does refer to a high tech planted tank:

http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

thanks guys for the replys i have the following fish 7 cardinal tetras,5 blind cave tetras,4 panda corys,6 black phamtom tetras,6 penquin tetras,6 pristella tetras,1 queen arabesque pleco