Brown algae?

[mrwizard]

Hello everyone, just recently I've been getting some brown algae looking stuff on my rocks and a little bit on the back wall of my tank, is there a sucker fish or something of the kind that will help get rid of it, like a rainbow garra or something similar? My tank is 40gallons with a dwarf gourami, 6 black phantoms, 6 corys, and about 8 cardinal tetras. Thanks for any help

 

[jcolon]

Ottos go to town on Brown algae. How old is the tank? BA (Diatoms) feed off silica and are common on newly set up tanks. Usually they go away on their own after a few weeks / months as the silica is the water is used up. However if your PWC source is ground water, it may contain silica and then BA may really never go away.

Brown Diatom Algae Control | Aquariums Life

 

[mrwizard]

Ottos go to town on Brown algae. How old is the tank? BA (Diatoms) feed off silica and are common on newly set up tanks. Usually they go away on their own after a few weeks / months as the silica is the water is used up. However if your PWC source is ground water, it may contain silica and then BA may really never go away.

Brown Diatom Algae Control | Aquariums Life

Will an otto be ok in my tank then? The tank has been up and running after cycling for about 5-6 months now. I get the water for my pwc from my bathroom tap, I hope it does go away I hate looking at the stuff makes my tank look dirty lol. And I will read up on that link, thank you.

 

[mrwizard]

Just read up on that thread, explains alot, I use play sand which says Contributes the brown algae, but I also have live plants which help get rid of it, another thing is I don't think I'll be able to change my water source for pwc so the ottos could be the way forward I think. How many could I get in my tank do u think? And Will they be ok with my corys and the 5-6 shrimp I have in there aswell? Thanks again

 

[aqua_chem]

I generally am a strong opponent of stocking algae eaters to fix problems that should be handled by the owner. But persistent brown algae from tap water silicates is probably the one condition I can see it being doable. You might try cutting down the photoperiord to see if that helps first though.

Otos are peaceful but gregarious. They'll need a group to be happy. In a 40, I would get 4-5, depending on your algae growth. You'll probably need to supplement their diet too.

 

[mrwizard]

Has anybody had any experience with ottos, corys and shrimp in the same tank? I've researched and from what I can gather they should be ok.
Im just wondering if anyone on here has done this before and if they had any problems?

 

[aqua_chem]

Has anybody had any experience with ottos, corys and shrimp in the same tank? I've researched and from what I can gather they should be ok.
Im just wondering if anyone on here has done this before and if they had any problems?

Your biggest issue would be with the cories and shrimp. Ottos won't be a problem.

 

[mrwizard]

I generally am a strong opponent of stocking algae eaters to fix problems that should be handled by the owner. But persistent brown algae from tap water silicates is probably the one condition I can see it being doable. You might try cutting down the photoperiord to see if that helps first though.

Otos are peaceful but gregarious. They'll need a group to be happy. In a 40, I would get 4-5, depending on your algae growth. You'll probably need to supplement their diet too.

Sorry I posted at the same time lol, thanks for the reply
To be honest i wanted some sucker fish anyway i had them when i was a little kid and loved them
I'm assuming the photoperiod is the lights? If it is, my lights are on for 8hrs a day then my moonlights come on till I turn them off when I go to bed, does that sound like too much light??
I'll probably go for four then don't want to put too much strain on the bb I have some algae wafers I take it they eat those? Lol. Thank you again

 

[mrwizard]

Your biggest issue would be with the cories and shrimp. Ottos won't be a problem.

Do you mean as in I'd have a problem with the corys and shrimp being together?
If so I already have these I'm my tank and they get along great, I actually just thought I seen my shrimp cleaning 1 of my corys, turns out he was just waiting for leftover food lol.

 

[aqua_chem]

I'd be more worried about cories vs shrimplets.

But not too worried honestly.

 

[mrwizard]

I'd be more worried about cories vs shrimplets.

But not too worried honestly.

I'll keep an eye out for sure. thank you