algae on plant leaves...?

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e burna

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
Messages
113
Location
Villiage of Lowell
I have some leafed plants in my tank, and there is getting some algae on them, I'm wondering if I should try and brush the algae off so the plant can still get light. Any suggestions? Sorry I don't know the name of the plant.
 
Try brushing it off. If it comes off easily it may just be standard brown (diatom) algae. If this is the case you may need to increase your lighting.
 
Yes, I'm sure that is the type of algae. It gets on the glass too, and comes right off if I brush it off. I thought when that happened you needed to DECREASE your lighting, not increase? I thought the lighting caused the algae? Let me know. Thanks for the reply.
 
Brown algae is often symptomatic of newly set-up tanks. Before your bio-filter is completely established you may experience low O2 levels and/or elevated NO3 levels which can lead to the formation of brown algae. Once your bio-filter matures it is able to provide plenty of O2 and has good colonies of nitrifying bacteria to deal with the nitrates produced by waste product breakdown. Low light levels can also increase your chances of brown algae. How many watts per gallon are you running and what size is your tank?
 
travis simonson said:
Brown algae is often symptomatic of newly set-up tanks. Before your bio-filter is completely established you may experience low O2 levels and/or elevated NO3 levels which can lead to the formation of brown algae. Once your bio-filter matures it is able to provide plenty of O2 and has good colonies of nitrifying bacteria to deal with the nitrates produced by waste product breakdown. Low light levels can also increase your chances of brown algae. How many watts per gallon are you running and what size is your tank?

I have 2 20watt bulbs, one of them is black light, the other one is specially for plant growth. THe tank is a 29 gallon and has been set up for probably 3-4 months.
 
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