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Brown Algae?

Started by sarah, January 16, 2018, 08:55:39 PM

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sarah

We started our first freshwater aquarium over christmas and I thought everything was going well, until this week.  Brown spots started on some decor and today I am finding them on some gravel.  would this be brown algae?

How do I get rid of it?  Is there something wrong in the aquarium environment that is causing the brown algae to form?  

Thanks for your help!

matttimms49

I haven't experienced brown algae before but i'm sure someone here has. I would imagine its still just part of the aquarium getting into its full cycle and that it will hopefully reduce given some water changes.

But as I mentioned i'm not sure on the algae type, so hopefully someone else can help out. :)

Mike L

Looks like dooms. They will go away over time.

Gilbotron

Looks like diatoms/aufwuchs (looks kind of like slime?) which is a type of algae.  Very common when establishing a new tank and until things get balanced.  I get it quite often when setting up tanks, usually for the first few months unless I plant heavy from the start.  Harmless unless it takes over, but it is a great food source for algae eaters and snails. Most fish will pick at it. Usually goes away over time, and it can manually be scraped off glass and decor if it gets unsightly (gravel vac it after scraping it off so it isn't left to die in the water and possibly pollute).

Lots of plants will help reduce it by stripping excess nutrients from the water.  Floating plants work great (duckweed, frogbit, salvinia, hornwort, sprite, etc.) if you aren't invested in a planted tank (looks like you have inert gravel which will make stem/root feeder plants challenging).

Hope this helps

Black_Rose

I agree, that looks like diatoms.

My 20 high got it really bad when I first set it up.

I reduced my lighting period by creating a midday blackout period, and that helped it to go away.

I also tried dosing Excel, but stopped after several fish (mostly panda cories) passed away.

Most of my early plants died, but once I added Amazon Sword and floating water sprite(?) everything stabilized.

wolfiewill

I agree with Gilbotron. It's probably diatomaceous algae which is usually a sign of low light in tanks without CO2 injection. Otocynclus catfish - aka oto cats - will eat it, as will several other algae grazers. Clean it off with a tooth brush - it should brush off easily with weekly maintenance. In well lit, CO2 dosed, heavily planted aquarium it won't survive for long.
"Don't tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don't tell them where they know the fish." Mark Twain

Mike L

Sorry I meant diatoms. Spell check.  :-\

sarah

Thank you for your help!  I'll go through everyone's comments and see what I can figure out from there.

George2

I remember having the exact same problem when I set up my first aquarium. Over time it got worse, especially on the glass along the edge of the substrate. I added a few nerite snails to my aquarium and I was amazed at how fast they were able to get rid of the problem. They even went in my hang-on-the-back filter and cleaned that out too. LOL.

http://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/freshwater-snails/nerite-snails/

Critter Jungle(Carling) and Big Als often have them.

Since your tank is very new (less than a month old), I would wait a little longer, though. There might not be enough food for the snails at this point.

Gilbotron

Snails are the cats meow for keeping aquariums clean - especially planted tanks. If you don't mind the appearance of them that is.

Any kind of snail will work for these diatoms (and many other types of algae).  Red Ramshorns and MTS should be readily available for free on this forum (most of us have an unlimited supply). 
Nerites: Nice looking and cannot reproduce in the aquarium - great if only want a few. 
Red Ramshorns: Readily reproduce and make an excellent food source for many loaches and puffers.
Malaysian Trumpet Snails (MTS): Readily reproduce. During the day they live in the gravel and only come out at night to clean your tank.  Great if you don't want to see snails but want a nightly cleanup crew!  They also do a good job cleaning and aerating the gravel, but can sometimes be a pain if you have small plants as they sometimes push them out.

Lots more types out there you can find at an LFS - mystery, lava, rabbit, apple, etc...