Jump to content

Algae problems


Recommended Posts

This is my pea puffer and Cory tank. There’s a window to the side that blinds and curtains are kept closed, but the window across the room, about 8ft away is usually open. I’ve been battling this brown algae for a while, and am going to be moving my tank to the other side of my living room where there’s no windows. Other than moving it after cleaning off the decorations and sifting the sand around, what else can I do to get rid of it and keep it gone? I even went almost three weeks without the plant light on, and that didn’t even work.

E2BFDE9E-E05D-4572-B729-867F9F669623.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/5/2022 at 5:30 PM, Bethany92 said:

This is my pea puffer and Cory tank. There’s a window to the side that blinds and curtains are kept closed, but the window across the room, about 8ft away is usually open. I’ve been battling this brown algae for a while, and am going to be moving my tank to the other side of my living room where there’s no windows. Other than moving it after cleaning off the decorations and sifting the sand around, what else can I do to get rid of it and keep it gone? I even went almost three weeks without the plant light on, and that didn’t even work.

E2BFDE9E-E05D-4572-B729-867F9F669623.jpeg

@nabokovfan87has been doing A LOT of algae experiments lately, maybe he can help.

As for the plants, I highly recommend Reverse Respiration:

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For brown diatoms it's generally the "easiest" to balance out the aquarium and to get some of the things dialed in and it would normally die off naturally.  You can use a toothbrush and that would remove a good portion of it on generally most surfaces.  Ease back dosing of fertilizer slightly to lean out nitrates and then just keep an eye on things.

If you have issues with ambient light, cover 3 sides of the tank with your preferred color of 100% tint window film and go from there.  You can even use an opaque white and it should look pretty nice but help to diffuse some of that ambient light.  Because you do have ambient light in the room, it isn't an issue, but it's something where you might cut back your normal light by 5-15% or so to compensate.  Algae like the long / sustained light and that's where you'll see the benefit of adding the window film onto the sides and back of the tank.

For brown diatoms it's generally the "easiest" to balance out the aquarium and to get some of the things dialed in and it would normally die off naturally.  You can use a toothbrush and that would remove a good portion of it on generally most surfaces.  Ease back dosing of fertilizer slightly to lean out nitrates and then just keep an eye on things.

If you have issues with ambient light, cover 3 sides of the tank with your preferred color of 100% tint window film and go from there.  You can even use an opaque white and it should look pretty nice but help to diffuse some of that ambient light.  Because you do have ambient light in the room, it isn't an issue, but it's something where you might cut back your normal light by 5-15% or so to compensate.  Algae like the long / sustained light and that's where you'll see the benefit of adding the window film onto the sides and back of the tank.

From my experience, the brown diatoms show up when you have slightly high nitrates and waste in the water / tank.  Just up your cleaning and a big WC usually fixes issues for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...