sdellin
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hope this doesn't post twice, sorry if it does, but it did something funny a minute ago when I submitted it.
I have a lot of brown algae (diatom algae???) in my tank. I had it before and did a water change after brushing it off the rocks with a little scrub brush. I got it again when I went on vacation and someone else was feeding my fish. I brushed the rocks and removed the algae from the front and sides of the tank , then did a water change to remove it once it was in the water, but it came back faster this time, like in a week, as opposed to last time, which took much longer. I left some of the algae on the back for the snails, maybe I should have removed it all.
I checked nitrates and other stuff. Nitrates went to 40 while I was away, but they're back to between 10 and 20 now and have been, so I don't know if it's normal to get this brown algae so often/quickly.
Forgive me if I'm petty, but I really prefer to look at the purple crystaline and red algae, and the cool green stuff, not this icky brown. Please advise. FYI, protein skimmer not hooked up yet, will that help this problem?
forgot the picture, here it is.
I have a lot of brown algae (diatom algae???) in my tank. I had it before and did a water change after brushing it off the rocks with a little scrub brush. I got it again when I went on vacation and someone else was feeding my fish. I brushed the rocks and removed the algae from the front and sides of the tank , then did a water change to remove it once it was in the water, but it came back faster this time, like in a week, as opposed to last time, which took much longer. I left some of the algae on the back for the snails, maybe I should have removed it all.
I checked nitrates and other stuff. Nitrates went to 40 while I was away, but they're back to between 10 and 20 now and have been, so I don't know if it's normal to get this brown algae so often/quickly.
Forgive me if I'm petty, but I really prefer to look at the purple crystaline and red algae, and the cool green stuff, not this icky brown. Please advise. FYI, protein skimmer not hooked up yet, will that help this problem?
forgot the picture, here it is.