"New Tank" Algae

[Tacit Blues]

I have a pretty new tank (45 gallon with live plants, Finnex Planted+ about 20" above the substrate surface, running about 3 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the late afternoon/evening) that I'm starting to experience algae in (I think it's the brown diatom stuff, but I'm hardly an algae expert). From what I've read, it seems that this can sort of be expected in a new tank before the plants really get established, but I am wondering, at what point you decide to do something about it like altering the photoperiod? I just got a bottle of Excel (after a period of confusion with Amazon) and from what I read that is also helpful?

 

[evil Nick]

Where is the algea? I get itty bitty hazes on my glass but have a squeegee And scrub brush I use during my cleaning.
Mine is still new as well which is why I'm chiming in.

I get a mix of diff spots on my drift wood but it actually looks nice and the animals in there love nipping it.
Could you Get a placo or some ottocats?
Maybe snails?
I've started loving my invasive snails. Been plucking out the pond snails here and there but leave some cause they are like super fast fish tank roombas!
Even my buddy has asked me for a few to add to his tank now.

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[Tacit Blues]

Mostly on the glass and driftwood. I know you're not supposed to treat algae with fish/other creatures, but I like ottos anyway, so I might wind up getting a few of them. Once my plants come in better I'd also like to see if Red Cherry Shrimp could get a viable colony going, though my Head and Tailight Tetras seem to be way more aggressive than they should be so I don't know how well the shrimp would last. Some of my anacharis came in with tiny pond snails, but I squished a few of them that I saw and haven't seen any since, though I guess I wouldn't be opposed to a few of some sort.

 

[evil Nick]

Mostly on the glass and driftwood. I know you're not supposed to treat algae with fish/other creatures, but I like ottos anyway, so I might wind up getting a few of them. Once my plants come in better I'd also like to see if Red Cherry Shrimp could get a viable colony going, though my Head and Tailight Tetras seem to be way more aggressive than they should be so I don't know how well the shrimp would last. Some of my anacharis came in with tiny pond snails, but I squished a few of them that I saw and haven't seen any since, though I guess I wouldn't be opposed to a few of some sort.

I finally got 2 cherry shrimp, very small and they have disappeared lol.
I know they are hiding under the wood cause for a while until they were comfortable my ghost shrimp did the same. Took me forever to find cherry shrimp in my area so I hope they are good. Odd that a ghost shrimp is 60c but cherries are almost 3$.

I think people say you shouldnt use creatures to CURE algae because you will never completely eliminate it that way. I got them to mainly eat the algae off the wood. I got a pleco because I read up they are great for cleaning wood because its actually part of their diet. Though I also read to supplement their diet with veggies to keep them from wrecking plants. My glass the snails do great but again I wipe it down during my water changes (not that I have done that many), get a couple mystery snails if you dont have them. Theyre awesome to watch. I should have gotten ottos but I had a mistake when I went to the store and ended up with an albino bushy nose. I asked about cory cats, thinking otto cats and then couldnt understand why the guy kept telling me the cory cat doesnt eat algae. Well its doesnt I was just a tard and asking for the wrong thing. By the time I corrected myself the pleco was in the bag and she loved the albino look. I may get a flying fox as well, they are cool and decent algea eaters.

Hit a dollar tree and grab a squeegee. When you do a water change use a paper towel to wipe the non submerged edges. Keep the numbers down when you can so it doesnt multiply to rapidly. Get a couple easy plants to pull the CO out of the water, plus they look nice.

Also if you have a plant light, make sure you find a proper amount of time to actually run it and dont over do it.

 

[RadMax8]

Diatoms are fairly common to new aquariums. I had them show up in my 10 gal. Within about 5 days of adding guppies and a nerite snail, the diatoms were gone and I haven't seen a shred of algae since. The tank is so clean I moved my nerite back to the 29 gal.

From what I've read, diatoms show up at the end of the cycle and aren't necessarily indicative of an imbalance that you aren't fixing by doing the huge water change before adding fish.

I would recommend against getting otos, simply due to the fact that your tank is immature and doesn't house enough "biofilm" for the little guys to munch on when the algae runs out (and it will very quickly with these guys). In six months if you still want some otos, go for it, but not now.

Good luck!


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[Tacit Blues]

Yeah, so back to the original question, how long should I wait for it to clear itself out before I decide that it's a light imbalance rather than just "new tank?"

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[deMelo]

you should have a led light system,
that alone will help a LOT

Get some shrimp and snails you will be fine
Keep up with water changes!!

 

[Tacit Blues]

I have a Finnex planted+

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[deMelo]

Can't you take a pic of your tank?

 

[Tacit Blues]

Check out the link in the first post.

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[deMelo]

Thanks!

Did you clean the glass with water and vinegar? Before you put water into it?

 

[Tacit Blues]

It was well cleaned when I started, bit I feel like we're getting off on a tangent here. I'm not really interested in the "how" to control the algae so much as the "when."

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[Fresh2o]

It may take a few weeks before the brown algae goes away. As long as it is not BBA, stag horn, green spot, or blue-green algae then I would not change anything.


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[trennamw]

I typically add Otos when a tank is mature enough for diatoms. As early as a few weeks. Nothing clears them faster and I've never had an Oto get skinny like it was starving. They eat omega one algae wafers in my tank as well.

My approach to their delicacy is wait for diatoms, buy them from a store where they've arrived more than a week ago, and drip acclimate them very slowly with a drip from airline tubing. Then keep the water clean.

I'm newish to keeping fish but out of 15 Otos, I've lost 5 ... 3 when I bought them the day after getting to the store, 1 got caught in a filter, 1 to something unknown. It hasn't made a difference Petsmart vs LFS either (in fact the one unknown death was a LFS buy).


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