Brown algae

[SABWARNER16]

In literally every tank I have except one of my 10 gallon and 20 gallon that have quality lights, I am having a very stubborn brown algae outbreak. I have done so many cleanings and water changes to get them out but it keeps coming back and I wonder if it has something to do with the lights I have. All of them except the two have lights that just came with the tanks that are very low light.. my nerite snails seem to not want to be in the water which is another issue I don’t know how to fix. My mystery snail just got moved to a filthy tank and has not slept lol! He has really helped with The one he’s in and never needs to be out of the water. Other than gravel vacs which I’m doing constantly, is there anything else I can do (other than getting better lights which is on the to do list) to make it go away?

 

[Rainbowdan]

I have the same problem. I just purchased a Coralife twist 24 UV Light filter for my tank, hopefully my Fluval 306 filter is strong enough to pump the water through it. I'm wondering if I should I buy an additional pump for the UV light? I'll keep you posted once it gets here and I can hook it up.

 

[hansgruber7]

Try adjusting how long your lights are on, or adjusting any nutrients you may be putting in the tank, or reducing the feeding. Those are all things that helped me reduce algae.

 

[Rainbowdan]

Lights are on a timer for 8hrs, only feed the fish 2 or 3 times a week, removed all the gravel from the tank cleaned the tank and it still came back. Tank has been setup from 8 yrs. I know the UV light will kill both good and bad but....

 

[hansgruber7]

I've read that algae comes from an inbalance in light and nutrients. So it could be that you have too many nutrients in the water based on the light and the plant usage. Are you dosing anything? Have you tested your tap water? Sometimes mixing in RO water can reduce algae. Or you could put in some fast growing plants to soak up nutrients, or try switching your light. It's a tricky thing to battle algae. Good luck!

 

[Retired Viking]

I have fast growing plants in all my tanks and a few nerites snails and have not had any algae problem. The only algae I have had to deal with is on plants I buy.

 

[itiwhetu]

Check your temperature the lower the temperature the more oxygen in the water = less algae. More plants less algae, same reason.