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Brown algae
Hi. I have a 10 gallon tank with 1 yellow dwarf gourmi, 2 tetras,
a barb, and a crab. My water was pretty cloudy so I got my water tested
at my LPS. The lady said that I have too much nitrates and that it's
probably from overfeeding. She suggested cutting back my feeding to
once every other day. Well, I've been doing that for about 5 days
but now I have some dark brown algae on the front of my tank. I never
had ANY algae before. Is this algae a result of feeding my fish LESS?
Is there any non-chemical way to get rid of it and keep it from coming
back (besides scrubbing my tank every time I see it)? Thanks for any
advice you can give,
Jay
- jay just as a reminder to my last post...your overfeeding is not
a good thing nor high nitrate levels...do more water changes and try
some phosphate absorbing media as well...but well you and your tank
full of the weird and wonderful you never know....ha just bugging
ya!
- are the soft clumpy spots?...if so..these are usually diatoms..
it usually indicates a lack of light or too much silicates....step
up your light,vacum patches and wipe tank..
- Umm, I don't know what exactly you mean by "soft clumpy spots" but
they came off quite easily with a toothbrush today. And yes, they
are in clumps on the walls, not one solid mass. I also noticed that
most of the algae was on the front wall of the tank with only a little
bit on one side and even less on the back. Does this mean anything?
Also, is this algae somehow due to my feeding my fish only once every
other day? And what exactly are vacuum patches? I'm not familiar with
that term. I don't think that it's from lack of light because the
days have been more sunny lately than they have all winter. So if
anything the tank is getting more light, not less. How are silicates
made and how do you control them? Thanks jeff (and curt for that bit
of trivia:-)),
- jay usually brown algea is seen in the early part of a newly setup
tank...low or high light can contribute to it...and excess of high
organic componds..lotsa food plus phosphates =bad.. but brown algea
loves silicates...from your tap water or even your substrate(sand)
might contain it...get some ottos they eat it up and try a silicate
absorbing resin I think aqua-tech makes a good on that with Seachem's
phoso-gaurd and it sould remove it...if it's heavy in your tape water
then you might have to go with a RO unit...oh when I say vacuum patches
I mean vacuum up the patches...it's pretty easy to control...
- Okay, so I should get a Dwarf Otto Cat, and a silicate absorbin
resin if that doesn't work? I thought that if I got more fish it might
screw up my tank even more. What should I do with the algae on the
side of my tank? I can't vacuum that stuff up. Is it okay just to
brush it off with a toothbrush? Oh, and what is an "RO unit"? What
exactly is a "silicate absorbing resin" too? Should I just ask for
it at my LFS? Thanks for all your help. Jay
- there you go jay curt just told you what I was taking about...and
yes wipe or scrub the stuff off your glass..I thought if you had some
on your substrate you could vaccum it up...the otto was just a suggestion...you
know your tank better than us right? good luck...
- Jay, r/o stands for reverse osmosis...basically water is passed
through an extremely smalled pored membrane which is so small that
only water (h2o) can get through, and larger ions etc are filtered
out...they range in effectiveness, but most do a pretty good job of
taking most everything out. I happen to use a deionizing unit, which
is much like what the silicate resin is. The di unit uses charged
resins to filter out all the oppositely charged ions in the water.
Just like this, the resin, which is usually in a little nylon bag
to insert in your filter, contains a specifically charged substance
that will bind with whatever ion it is made for...in your case silicate.
hope that helps:) curt
- jay..just so for you to think about I know all this RO and DO stuff
sounds complicated and expensive..the thing you need to know is where
are the silicates coming from?..just be sure number one is it's not
in your substrate!(like silica sand)..cause no matter what you do
it will continue to leach out...now if it's in your tap water you
can deal with it expesively of cheaply...lets talk cheaply....first
the water in your tank can flow through a silicate absorbing resin
place in your filter ..we already talked about this...get maximim
contact that will help...be sure or the diatoms will build up again...
clean your tank walls from bottom to top to prevent diatoms spillage
back in...rinse sponge after every use...then go again till done...your
tap water can be poured into a bucket through a sieve with the silica
absorbing resin place it on white filter floss if you have to...do
this about 5 times and your water will be ready to use....anyway I
know it sounds like work but that's the best help I can give you good
luck....
- Hi, just a fun fact i thought i would throw in...this brown stuff
is actually diatoms like jeff said, or sometimes cyanobacteria can
look brown and slimy...the only true algae classified as brown algae
is kelp...and that doesn't grow in any fish tank i know of...just
a fun fact.:)...you might want to try an otto or siamese algae eater,
these i have found will personally heat just about anything., curt
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