So I have been having a little bit of a problem with brown algae growing in my 75 gallon community tank. Here's all the info. The tank has been cycled for about 8 months now, and I know diatoms have a tendency to show up with new tanks, but at this age shouldn't it be gone by now? It's not bad at all, there's just a light layer on some of the decor (the ones closest to my light) and towards the end of the week when a water change is due there are some spots on the glass in the center which I scrape off with the WC. The "problem" started a couple months ago if I had to guess, but I haven't really kept track. I have ruled out poor water condition as it is right around 10-20 nitrates, 20 being towards the end of the week. All of my fish seem very healthy. There is a juvenile German Blue Ram in the tank that does excellent, and since they are sensitive fish I have a feeling it has nothing to do with bad water otherwise I believe he would be the first to show discomfort.
The weird thing is I do not have this problem in my piranha tank which has been cycled for about a year, yet never had the problem to begin with - so that rules out tap water issues. The only difference I can think of is that my 75 has a light that is on during the day, whereas the piranha tank has no overhead light.
It's not overrunning my tank by any means, but it is a little unsightly. My guess is it has to do with the lighting, but I figured I'd try to get some input on this issue. Could it be poor water movement? The only filter I have on it is my AC110, I plan on adding another once I have some more money though. Maybe overfeeding, but like I said nitrates are under control so I don't think that's the issue. I'm stumped
The weird thing is I do not have this problem in my piranha tank which has been cycled for about a year, yet never had the problem to begin with - so that rules out tap water issues. The only difference I can think of is that my 75 has a light that is on during the day, whereas the piranha tank has no overhead light.
It's not overrunning my tank by any means, but it is a little unsightly. My guess is it has to do with the lighting, but I figured I'd try to get some input on this issue. Could it be poor water movement? The only filter I have on it is my AC110, I plan on adding another once I have some more money though. Maybe overfeeding, but like I said nitrates are under control so I don't think that's the issue. I'm stumped