Brown algae on plants

[Jeffreyb]

I have a lot of brown algae growing on my live plants and can’t seem to get rid of it. I have java fern and anubias. Low light. Just the lights that came with the tank. Anyone have any ideas why. Do not overfeed fish. Been keeping fish for over 10 years just started trying live plants. 

[Patrick_G]

Can you post a picture? It sounds like diatom alage. It's easy to remove and usually goes away with time. 

[Jeffreyb]

On 4/14/2022 at 7:09 PM, Patrick_G said:

Can you post a picture? It sounds like diatom alage. It's easy to remove and usually goes away with time. 

 

[Jeffreyb]

I really would like a nice planted healthy tank but I haven’t had good luck with my plants. I have 5 tanks set up at the moment ph around 7.6 temp 78 and lights on for 8 hours. 1 day a week I leave them off for the day.

[Patrick_G]

The brown algae will go away with time, but Nerite snails, Otocinclus and Amano shrimp love to eat it. 

I see some staghorn algae, the little filamentous stuff,  and thats more difficult to control. I find that a reduction in light duration or intensity works. Proper fertilization is also important. It promotes good growth and helps the plants out compete the algae. 

You're probably also dealing with the Java fern converting from its air grown emersed for to it's submerged form. Given time it'll start sending out nice new growth. 

[Jeffreyb]

Ok thank you I will cut the lights back some and I use flourish once every other week.

[Guppysnail]

Plants prefer consistency. Even on cloudy days the uv still comes through. I’m a pale blonde Irish German girl. I can get a mild sunburn on an overcast day in summer if I’m out to long 🙄 I understand lights off for a day to limit algae thought. It would be better to do as @Patrick_G said and cut back but stop going lights out for a day. It will help the plants thrive more. 

[Minanora]

On 4/15/2022 at 5:20 AM, Guppysnail said:

sunburn on an overcast day

I was always told that you actually get more uv exposure when it's overcast. Something about the water magnifying/intensifying the "tanning" spectrum. You know, back when it was cool to get really tan from the sun or tanning beds. My dad used to go lay on his roof when it was overcast or sunny to work on his tan when he was a younger hip dude.

Anyway, as for the algae. It will go away in time but you can gently rub it off of stuff while you do a water change to help the visual appeal while you wait for it to settle out on it's own.

[Bettagirl]

I am having a similar problem with brown/diatom algea. I am HATING it. I just got a Nerite snail and a Malaysian trumpet snail on last Thursday 4/14 (so they've been in my tank for 4 days now). Will they be enough to help with this problem? I have a 5-gallon tank and besides the two snails one betta. Is there anything else I should do? It looks AWFUL. It's got my plants and substrate all brown and ugly looking. Should I add something like Seachem PhosGuard? My phosphate level is a bit high, when I last tested last week. PLEASE HELP. 

[AndreaW]

On 4/18/2022 at 3:59 PM, Bettagirl said:

I am having a similar problem with brown/diatom algea. I am HATING it. I just got a Nerite snail and a Malaysian trumpet snail on last Thursday 4/14 (so they've been in my tank for 4 days now). Will they be enough to help with this problem? I have a 5-gallon tank and besides the two snails one betta. Is there anything else I should do? It looks AWFUL. It's got my plants and substrate all brown and ugly looking. Should I add something like Seachem PhosGuard? My phosphate level is a bit high, when I last tested last week. PLEASE HELP. 

Diatoms are seen as a "temporary" algae that is usually seen as a "beginner" algae that grows before other algae begins to grow. It usually happens when you have a new tank or the nitrogen cycle has been disturbed and is trying to get back into balance. 

Most snails will eat diatoms and you should see their tracks running through them as they eat it. Give your tank more time to balance itself and the diatoms will disappear and you will then be able to experience the other more "experienced" algae like Green Spot Algae.

I would not use chemicals to treat algae. You want to find the source and change whatever is causing it -- in your case, if it's a new tank or still trying to become seasoned, then time will fix it. You can wipe it off your plants so they can absorb the light, but otherwise, you probably want to leave it to feed the snails.

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/15/2022 at 2:25 AM, Jeffreyb said:

Ok thank you I will cut the lights back some and I use flourish once every other week.

I would cut the lights by about 10-15% lower intensity and then monitor the algae.

What is the stocking of the tank in question, is their amano shrimp or otos to help with algae?
What is the light you are using, what plants are in the tank and what are their light requirements? (do you have a lot of stems, slow growers, etc?)
What is your dosing chemical and how often do you dose?

Also, very cool corydoras! Looking forward to seeing him in your next photos 🙂

[Bev C]

 I have been fighting this to over a year would never go away no matter whai did   check your phosphates and silicates levels mine was coming from the tap .. i have to pretreat my water for phosphates and silicates  now before adding to the the tank  Best wishes 

[Bettagirl]

Thanks so much for the help and suggestions. Being new to the aquarium hobby I am learning all the time. I had been googling and read the articles on algea here from Aquarium Coop, and watched a bunch of YouTube vidoes, but my pristine tank is starting to look not that great because of this brown haze LOL, and was wondering am I missing something or doing something wrong. @Bev C what do you use to pretreat your water for phosphates and silicates? Just wondering for future use, if needed. I will be more patient with this in the meantime 😃. I did a phosphate test on my tank about 2 wks ago and my levels were up. I also did about 50% water change yesterday. My tank is 3mos old, so the aweome folks at Aquarium Coop informed me that my tank is still considered new, so all part of the process 🙃.

[Bev C]

@Bettagirl   Keeping up water changes are the best thing to do

 Wishing you the best ,, it takes time and patience  you are in the right place this forum and Aquarium Coop team is the best and they give the best advice I am still learning to about plants myself   I an no expert but just telling my experiences 

The Phosguard comes 2 ways  prebag or bottle you measure  i buy the bottle cheaper and a bottle last a while 

They say you can add the Phosguard to you filter  and follow their directions if you add it to filter ,, the directions would be different if you put in the filter instead of presoak  The Filter directions is easy to follow 

 but since it comes from my tap it is better for me to presoak my water 

Water Presoak Directions I use 

on the bottle you measure it says 1/3 cup for every 50 gallon  i do 20 gallons of water for my change  I use 1/4 cup of Phosguard  and i put in a small media bag 

I use a trash can /bin  for the water change  water then put the media bag of phosguard in the can let it  24-48 hours before water change ,,  with my heater to warm water 

is best to buy a small bottle first to see if it works then you can buy bigger bottle  later ,,

After presoak if the phosguard is very brown you might to have empty media bag and  replace phosguard  next soak but at times if the phosguard is not brown   i put the bags in water and keep it wet andI use it least use it twice  for 2 water changes before changing the phosguard 

But it is best if the phosguard is very brown  to use new 

I still have algae but it lots better and  very manageable plants are looking  lot better plus my netrite and mystery snails and bristolnose pelco helps too 

 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by Bev C

[Bettagirl]

@Bev C Thanks so much!

[Bev C]

@Bettagirl  anytime hope… wishing you the best with it

Like I said I am no expert but This is has helped me allot with my terrible water out of my house sinks ,, I tried everything  I took a sample of tap water  to my city had them test it then i took a sample of tank and tap water to fish store and had them test

I still have algae with my snails and bristolnose nose and water changes and cleaning   it is manageable  and but i am not having to clean as much and  plants look and acts better too 

Edited April 21, 2022 by Bev C