What kind of algae and how to get rid of it?

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Kiodos

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Sep 23, 2019
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Hello,

I am new to this hobby but obsessed. I have a 40 gallon acrylic tank, filter for 50 gallon, 2 medium full spectrum lights and one all white long LED bar, and C02 setup. I created the substrate out of aquasoil and seiryu stone then planted dwarf hair grass and baby tears. Now my tank is turning green. Any help with stopping this would be great. C02 drop checker is in the green. My tank is setup on wifi plugs that have a schedule. C02 comes on 1 hour before lights for 1 hour, then lights come on for 8 hours, 6 hours into lights the C02 comes back on for 20 minutes.
 

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You will get all kinds of algae when you first set a tank up. Those that appear not to spend most of the time scrubbing it or treating it with chemicals. The only way I beat algae naturally is by being patient and allowing the tank to go through the stages of maturity.
 
I was wondering. I just got concerned because my dwarf hair grass is turning brown and I was worrying the algae was gonna kill it. For now I've just been brushing it off the grass and the dwarf tears. Thank you for at least putting my mind at ease. The tank has been going for a couple months and being totally new I thought it had past the "new tank" time. I was considering getting an Otto or some cherry shrimp to help but I worry they will uproot the plants as they have only been there a week.
 
I was wondering. I just got concerned because my dwarf hair grass is turning brown and I was worrying the algae was gonna kill it. For now I've just been brushing it off the grass and the dwarf tears. Thank you for at least putting my mind at ease. The tank has been going for a couple months and being totally new I thought it had past the "new tank" time. I was considering getting an Otto or some cherry shrimp to help but I worry they will uproot the plants as they have only been there a week.


If it’s brushing off and brown it might just be diatoms which are again all part of a new system. Ottos love these but you will need a few because they prefer to be in groups. Having said that the tank may not have developed proper grazing material for them yet i.e biofilms. Normally au would suggest nerite snails but not whilst using co2.

The best thing about diatoms if that they go away completely on their own so you don’t have to do anything.
 
Perfect, it does brush off brown. Thank you. Puts my mind at ease. I started reading and I swear it was like googling medical conditions. There were so many kinds of algae and some if you brush it off it starts the life cycle all over and I was getting pretty lost.
 
I've never been able to get rid of diatoms and my tanks are several years old. I got a water report from my water company and I have silicates in my tap water.
 
Algae isnt a bad thing in some cases either. They help keep your tank stable and add a natural look to things like rocks and wood. I have a heavily planted tank with CO2 and still have minor issues with algae on my plants, its tough as hell to get that perfect balance. But in my small shrimp tank it doesnt have algae on any of the plants but the rocks have a perfect green algae that looks amazing on it. You win some you lose some.
 
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