Brown Elgae

[ajbwrg]

I have brown elgae on everything in my tank and also in the water, What's going on ? I have reduced the on time on my lights from 10 to 7 hrs. what else can i do diffrent

[ajbwrg]

and my plants are going brown.

[ajbwrg]

and my plants are going brown

[Dietmar]

How many watts per gallon do you have?
Brown algae usually grows when not enough light is present. Also you could do a partial water change to get rid of some of the nutrients the algae is feeding on.

[2wheelsx2]

Why don't you show a pic of your tank and describe your entire setup so that we can have some idea what we're dealing with. Things like temp, pH, CO2 injection, lighting wattage and type, hours of lighting, fertilization scheme, substrate, tank volume, water change interval, type and amount of plants. How long has the tank been set up for and when did the algae start appearing, etc. Filtration means and how much circulation (powerheads), will also help. Dealing with planted tanks and algae are not an exact science, so each person's experience can be different.

[ajbwrg]

1.56 watts per gal, I just bought these 2 weeks ago, the elgae started about 3 days ago

[jobber604]

I'm no algae expert but brown algae growing on the glass and on the surface of rocks etc is a diatom bloom. Similar to the below picture.


What are diatoms you ask?
Diatom is a very common type of algae which occurs most of the time towards the end of a tanks' cycling period. It is typically tan or brown in colour.

What causes it?
"Causes of diatoms
Virtually all new aquariums will go through a diatom bloom, which is nothing to worry about. Once they’ve reduced the excess nutrients they thrive on – particularly silicates – they will die back and other algae will move in unless limited by plant growth. In more mature aquariums, the cause of diatom blooms may be excessive nitrate and other nutrients, a lack of light – which diatoms don’t really require but which will stunt other competing plant growth – or insufficient oxygen."

How can I do to get rid of it?
"Treatment - In a new tank, just wait until the bloom passes. In an older tank, do a clean-up and several large water changes to reduce the nutrient load. You may need to treat your tapwater if the problem is persistent. As with all algae solutions, heavy plant growth will out-compete diatoms – you’ll need to provide sufficient lighting and the correct micronutrients for plants. Some fish and snails will browse on diatoms, but only a full environmental clean-up will suppress them if they occur in mature tanks."
Source: Algae control in a freshwater aquarium

Other resources:
Brown Algae, Diatoms In Freshwater Tanks

It's not that bad of a problem and can be easily resolved. Once your tank matures and the cycling stabilizes, the re-occurrence decreases. Just keep up with water changes, ensure you don't overfeed and have left over food (which causes an increase in phosphates), and you're all set.

Good luck.

Source: Brown algea on rock and glass -High phosphate level

[ajbwrg]

[ATTACH]IMG_0471.jpg[/ATTACH]
Okay so its a 150 gal tank it has a 300 watt heater, 1- Rena XP4 filter,2- air stones, 2 - 36" Coralife double fixtures with 6700k lamps and a 48" coralife double fixture with the same bulbs. There are about 30 Neons, 10 cory's,8 platy's,8 Guppies,3 apple snails ( large ) 2- Longfinned Albino Bristlenose, Mountain Fan Shrimp, the temp is 80, ammonia is 0, nitrate is 5.0, nitrite is 0 , PH is 7.4. I do not use any co2 or fertilizers at the moment, The plant are new I'm just getting into it. The tank has ben up and running for about 5 months now

[ajbwrg]

I do a 20% water change every week. and i use small gravel for substrate. There is very little elgae on the glass is on everything in the tank

[taureandragon76]

One of the problems that I can see is you don't have enough filtration for your size of tank, I would get another xp4 to add to your setup, if you add more flow you may see less of this problem. Also diatoms seem to be more common with newer setups. Another thing to check is if the bulbs in your lights are old they may need to be replaced which can also be another cause. Also you have a decent amount of light over the tank but by the looks of your tank you have very minimal plant's in your setup.