The brown algae thread

[bosk1]

I have seen a few threads about brown algae, but nothing definitive. My tank has been up and running since November, and the brown algae is really starting to get all over everything. I have seen others ask whether it is harmful, and I understand that it is not. Still, it is unsightly. So I have some questions:

1. Is there a way to get rid of it short of taking out each of my fake plants and my fake driftwood, and individually cleaning them? It is also starting to take off on my gravel, and cleaning each individual piece of gravel will not be an option.

2. Is there any way to keep it under control in the future?

3. Is there anything out there that eats it? I think, from what I recall, that the answer is 'no.' Is that correct? I think I recall that snails might help, but can't remember. If so, is there a type of snail that my loaches won't kill and try to eat? Or does size help (ie. if I go with a BIG snail, will the small clown loaches leave it alone since they can't just suck it down? Or will they just pick it to death?)?

4. Any good sites where I can do more reading on the subject?

 

[BrianNY]

Diatom algae is usually the first to find it's way into a tank. The only species which I know eats brown algae are Otocinclis. Fortunately this algae is among the easiext to clean. It should wipe off ormaments and plants with your fingers.

Increase your water changes a bit. Do sufficient gravel vacs, and cut down the photoperiod some. All of this should help bring it under control.

HTH

 

[kaz]

LONG LIVE OTOS, a short burst of sun ray falls in a corner of my tank and the glass started to get brown. the substrate was in the way for otos to get to it so I moved it around and the next day gone all gone looks damn new. I really didnt think they did much but dammit these guys are a must get in every fw tank. LONG LIVE OTTOS

 

[Guest]

otocinclus catfish

 

[bosk1]

I'm completely NOT crazy about otos, but if that's the best way to keep things maintained, I may go that route. Any other suggestions? Comments on the snails, anyone? If I do go with some otos, I seem to recall that they like to be in groups. How many must I get to keep them happy? (the only thing worse than an ugly fish is a miserable ugly fish, so I guess I may as well keep them happy)

Oh, and about the pwc's, I typically do 40-50% once a week. The tank gets natural light (but no direct sun) from morning until about 4:00 p.m., and then I have a timer that turns on the lights from 4:00-8:30.

 

[Hrafnkel]

I've been having a losing battle with otos, buying a few and losing 2/3 of them overnight... So I finally bought six and figured I'd lose several, and I've yet to lose one. They keep it nice and clean, my tank went from horribly brown to like new in about a day and a half.

 

[Guest]

I wasn't crazy about Oto's at first eather but they DO do an excellent job of keeping a tank clean. You know i have 4 oto's and i have never lost one! I think my trick is i put a slice of zuchini in the same day i add them so they can have extra food. Now i only feed zuchini once a week.

 

[bosk1]

For the life of me, I can't figure out what word was edited out of that last post.

 

[aquanewbie72]

OH good - I'm glad this thread is here - I'm having a little drama in my tank right now... but next week after things calm down, I was thinking about picking up a couple Oto's for my 26 gal to get rid of some of the brown algae I have. I mean its just going CRAZY in there. My tank relies solely on artificial lighting because I live in a basement apartment and get NO natural light at all in here.

Anyway, I think I saw somewhere that oto's like water around 74-80 degrees. I tend to keep my tank warm - its at 85 now. Will they be OK in that? I hear they are pretty sensitive and die easy - but heck I'll buy 4 every day if they will eat this freakin' algae.

Oh and I don't know what was bleeped in that last post. I've noticed that a lot today. One of my fish's name is SUSHI and that got bleeped out of my signature a while ago. ???????? And in another post, it actually bleeped out the word "FISH" ?????? LOL

 

[Guest]

i can't even see anybody's signature... does anyone else see signantures?

 

[aquanewbie72]

You have to go into your profile and check mark the boxes that say "see other people's signatures" or something like that. I had to fix mine this morning.

 

[bosk1]

I couldn't see sigs after the board was reset. You have to go back into your settings and check the "view others' signatures" box.

 

[Guest]

well that's much better.. thank you~

 

[sherry]

my otos live on kale. Just freeze a leaf.. clip in in the tank adn let it stay till it's gone..

 

[YuccaPatrol]

I noticed that your temp is up to 85'F. You really should bring the temp down to 78 or so. Algae and other micro-organisms will multiply faster at higher temps and water is less capable of carrying oxygen the higher the temperature gets.

I'd only suggest such high temps for temporary treatment of parasties such as ich.

 

[bosk1]

Good catch. I didn't notice that until you pointed it out. Mine is above 86 right now because I am treating for ich, so that could be contributing to the algae growth in my tank.

Aquanewbie, you really should not keep your temperature at 85 for the reasons Yuccapatrol said. Speaking of ich, that is one of the micro-organisms that grows faster at high temperatures. Above 86 kills it, but anything less just causes it to multiply and spread faster. So if you get ich in a tank that is kept at 85, it will get out of control very quickly.

 

[aquanewbie72]

Oh NO - I've got my temp up to 85 right now because I'm treating ICH too. I thought that was high enough - I need to bump it up another degree or 2!!!!!
awww I should've checked the board last night for replies - now I have to wait until the end of the day to go home and fix it.

 

[manoosie]

How about a pleco?

 

[bosk1]

Jack Bauer's fish don't get ich. They... oops, wrong thread.

 

[aquanewbie72]

OK I wasn't feeling well so I left work early... the tank is actually at 85.7 - I bumped it up a tiny bit and will check it again in a few hours. Thanks for the heads up!