Algae in Mbuna tank

[JustOneMore20]

I already have an algae problem in my 55g Mbuna tank. Its brown algae...maybe diatoms?

My lighting is 2x32w normal fluorescent bulbs....around 9300K I think.

I have some Corkscrew vallisneria and a couple stems of Hygro in the tank.

Fish are 9 Yellow labs and 4 Albino Socolofis. I was feeding once a day...but I'm going to cut back to every other day. I checked my nitrates and they are only 15ppm. Ammonia and nitrItes are 0. pH is 7.6.

Any ideas on what I can do to get rid of this stuff? I'm gonna do a water change tomorrow night. It covers everything...the glass, the rocks, the heater....its nasty!

Tank has been setup for 2 weeks.

Any thoughts?

 

[DeFeKt]

I would wipe it off and continue with regular waterchanges if it bothers you.
Just remember to do a pwc and vac up the excess algae that falls off else it will just be food for more.
I would also tend to look more into your maintenance schedule rather then cutting back on feeding.

How long has the tank been setup? Just wondering because it has taken me a year to grow even a slight shadow of algae on my rocks, even running double the amount of your lighting.
I love it, it adds character and the mbuna graze on it all day. specially the youngn's

Matt

 

[JustOneMore20]

The tank has only been setup for 2 weeks. And the algae gets worse every day...I wipe it off the front and it comes back the next day.

I wouldn't mind it if it was about half the amount. It pretty much coats all the rocks and the heater.

I'll wipe it off and do a water change tomorrow...then maybe another in a few days and see if that helps. I just wondered if there was something else I could do... I'm used to algae being a bad thing (darn planted tanks).

Thanks!

 

[DeFeKt]

wow that is fast..

would sunlight be an issue?
maybe try a phosphate remover of sorts?

I can't even get that sort of growth in a WAY overstocked tank

 

[JustOneMore20]

would sunlight be an issue?

Nope....the tank is in the basement and gets zero sunlight.

I'll check my phosphates and see if that may be the cause.

I can't even get that sort of growth in a WAY overstocked tank

I'm sorry! I wish I didn't have so much algae growth!

 

[maxwell1295]

New tank = Diatoms

Not much you can do if that's what it is. You can wipe it off but it does grow back rather quickly. eventually it will just die off. You just have to wait it out. Check for a major imbalance in nutrients is definitely worth a try.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Not much you can do if that's what it is.

Thats what I was afraid of. This is some serious growth though...so I thought I'd ask.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

How long are the lights on during the day?

 

[JustOneMore20]

The lights stay on for 10 hours. It is set on a timer.

 

[maxwell1295]

Is the algae brown only? Have you checked your phosphates? My tap is high in phosphate and I have dealt with diatoms in all of my tanks for the first few weeks. It eventually goes away but it takes some time. I have it now in my 55g. I wipe it from the glass, butI don't mess with the stuff on the rocks. My little Red Zebra likes to nibble on it so it must be worth something.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Yep, its only brown. I checked the phosphates earlier and it was like 0.1....so almost 0. I changed out about 50% of the water and scrubbed the glass.

It seems to get worse every day...its weird! I can tell that it grows more each day. I left it on the rocks and just wiped the glass. My fish aren't eating it...but it would be nice if they were!

It has to be diatoms....it is really easy to wipe off. Its just so nasty looking!

Hopefully with more water changes and just letting it go away...the tank will start to look better. I'll just have to wipe the glass more often.

My other tanks are planted so I've never had to deal with diatoms this bad!

 

[hc8719]

The lights stay on for 10 hours. It is set on a timer

how many watts are your lights? do you have plants that require you to have that much light?

 

[rkilling1]

The lights stay on for 10 hours. It is set on a timer

how many watts are your lights? do you have plants that require you to have that much light?

My lighting is 2x32w normal fluorescent bulbs....around 9300K I think.

I have some Corkscrew vallisneria and a couple stems of Hygro in the tank.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Good news...my P. socolofi albinos have discovered the algae on the rocks and have started eating on it! Also, I scrubbed the glass and did the water change last week. Also I started feeding every other day (instead of once a day) and it has grown back, but not near as much as it had before. So, I'm glad that it has slowed down the growth. I'll do another 50% change this week and keep feeding every other day...hopefully the diatom phase will be over soon.

The corkscrew vals is why i have the amount of light that I do. I wanted to keep them in this tank and I've found they do better in more light. I had a hard time keeping them alive in my other 55g, but I hope that they will do ok in this one.

 

[Sicklid]

It's only diatoms, it will go away. Take my word on it.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I believe ya...its just ugly though.... I am getting some green algae growth now though...so hopefully when the brown goes away, I'll have some green left. I like it better, as long as it doesn't take over the tank.

 

[Sicklid]

Yep thats how the progression goes: brown then replaced by green, then by blue or black... I always leave some algae.

 

[travis simonson]

Sorry to be so late into this discussion but that is/was almost certainly brown/diatomaceous algae. Primary causes: low light and/or immature biological filters. It thrives in a low oxygen environment and disappears almost as fast as it appears once the filter gets rolling. My bet is that it is gone by now

 

[JDogg]

my mbuna tank has diatoms too, kind of my fault though, i run the light constantly (i WANT to get green algae to coat my rocks...) i figure diatoms are a step in the right direction...

 

[JustOneMore20]

My bet is that it is gone by now

Not yet....but it is getting less and less. I added an airstone because I figured that more aeration might help...and it has. It has slowed down the growth. The spraybar on my XP3 doesn't circulate the whole tank...so I'm eventually going to get a HOB. Just have to remember to pick one up.

Thanks for all the replies!