Brown Algae Problem

[codygregg]

I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on fish that will eat brown algae from my tank? It's a 55gal with 2 silver-tip sharks, 6 tiger barbs, and 2 Leporinus Fasciatus.

 

[thebluespirit]

I used ramshorn snails. They breed but i just take a few out aftr a month . You may want to use nerites as hey wont breed in your tank. Siamese or chinese algae eaters will work but im unsure about the compatibility with your little sharks as ive never kept them before

 

[Rivercats]

How old is the tank? Also what type lighting do you have and how long do you run them daily? Can you post a picture for positive identification? If the tank is new most likely its diatoms but can't say for sure without seeing it. Diatoms are very common in new tanks and will run their course and go away in time once they use up the excess silicates in the water. Running lights only 6 hours a day will go along way in slowing down the amount of diatoms your tank gets. IMO nerite snails are the best at eating diatoms. They also can't breed in freshwater and will eat diatoms, green dust algae, green spot algae, and bio-film. Some pleco's eat diatoms but it's not a sure thing.

 

[codygregg]

It's actually my friends tank. It's about a year old and it has T5 lighting. They are run 10 to 12 hours a day.

 

[Rivercats]

Since there is no picture all I can say is run lights 6 hours only till the algae subsides but don't run lights longer than 8 hours daily. Nerite snails are the best choice. A BNP may work if the other semi-aggressive fish leave it alone. CAE's get too large and aggressive and lose they taste for algae as they mature and SAE's tend to eat more on hair type algaes but also tend to lose their taste for it as they mature.

 

[dmolavi]

Do a phosphate check to see if your levels are too high, the, as Rivercats said, dial back the lighting. Also watch the feeding as well.

When my phosphates were out of control, which manifested itself as diatomes all over the tank, 2 100mL pouches of SeaChem PhosGuard in the filters for a week took care of it. My phosphates are back to normal (for a lightly planted tank), the brown stuff is gone, and the tank looks great.

I still do weekly phosphate tests so I can catch it before it gets out of control.

 

[Nathenrauch]

Do a phosphate check to see if your levels are too high, the, as Rivercats said, dial back the lighting. Also watch the feeding as well.

When my phosphates were out of control, which manifested itself as diatomes all over the tank, 2 100mL pouches of SeaChem PhosGuard in the filters for a week took care of it. My phosphates are back to normal (for a lightly planted tank), the brown stuff is gone, and the tank looks great.

I still do weekly phosphate tests so I can catch it before it gets out of control.

So i Did a Phosphate check on my tank and the levels were 0? idk what it could be? any suggestions. I'll get i picture on here after school gets out... Ps its my tank haha