Jeffreyb Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 Can you post a picture? It sounds like diatom alage. It's easy to remove and usually goes away with time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffreyb Posted April 14, 2022 Author Share Posted April 14, 2022 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffreyb Posted April 14, 2022 Author Share Posted April 14, 2022 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted April 15, 2022 Share Posted April 15, 2022 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffreyb Posted April 15, 2022 Author Share Posted April 15, 2022 Ok thank you I will cut the lights back some and I use flourish once every other week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted April 15, 2022 Share Posted April 15, 2022 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minanora Posted April 15, 2022 Share Posted April 15, 2022 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettagirl Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaW Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 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 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bev C Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 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 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettagirl Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 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 🙃. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bev C Posted April 20, 2022 Share Posted April 20, 2022 (edited) @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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettagirl Posted April 20, 2022 Share Posted April 20, 2022 @Bev C Thanks so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bev C Posted April 21, 2022 Share Posted April 21, 2022 (edited) @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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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