need help with brown algae

[noob2100]

Hi everyone. Ive been experiencing a problem with my 37g over the past several weeks. I initially thought it was a brown diatom outbreak as Ive read that this is fairly common in newly set up aquariums. I am growing skeptical of my diagnosis however because it only seems to be getting worse. It is now spreading to the leaves of most of my plants and starting to really brown out the glass. It is easily removed from my glass but i feel that it is starting to impact the health of my plants. Ive read conflicting reports online on its causes and course of correction. Does anyone have any experience with this? Ive read so many different things and am not sure where to begin. Too much, too little light, silicates being the main cause, etc. Not sure whether to cut down on my photoperiod or increase it. Ive read conflicting reports for it all. Any help would be appreciated, my fish dont seem to be impacted but it is certainly unsightly and i feel that it is starting to negatively impact my plants. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[carey]

They found your thread! yay!

I wish I could help but my experience is mostly with saltwater. :-(

Good luck and again, welcome to the forum!

 

[noob2100]

Thanks again carey! Now hopefully ill get to the bottom of my problem

 

[HUKIT]

I haven't experienced this at my new house since I'm on a private well but my old residence had city water that contained high levels of phosphates around 1.5-2ppm and I fought brown algae for years in all my tanks never turning green once. Water changes and increased current were the only remedy besides manual removal. They do make products like API's Phos-Zorb but I personally have no experience with that, but having your tap water tested is always a good start...brown algae or not it's good to know what's in it.

 

[noob2100]

Thanks hukit. I will def have to look into that. I don't have the capability to test for phosphates right now, hopefully ill be able to get the test this weekend. In the meantime I think ill mount an extra HOB I have to increase circulation. I'm becoming a little concerned now that my issue may be coming from my use of eco complete. I have read online that in some cases it has leached a tremendous amount of phosphates into the tank water. My main concern right now is for my plants. I have a second tank up and running without eco complete and with no brown algae. So my inclination is starting to turn to the eco complete perhaps being the cause if my phosphates are in fact high. Hopefully ill track down the cause soon. I'm planning on transferring everything into a new 55g I have within the next month. I would sure like to leave the brown stuff behind!

 

[Rush03]

I'm having the same problem! Water changes seem to be a temporary help. My water clarity is starting to worsen as well.

 

[UDan]

Planktonic algae usually bloom due to an increase in nutrients, temperature or both.

Try reducing the temp a little, it should help to control it a bit better, the tiny microscopic orginisms will do the rest . It should work itself out over a few weeks....

If temperature doesent control it, maybe you will have to figure out whats causing the excess nutrients