brown algae annoying

[bulatz]

i keep getting brown algae in my 75g tank alot its very annoying wondering if yall have any good tips... or ideas other than what ive read.

i did a heavy cleaning of my tank. some decor, even my fluval filter had so much brown algae and i cleaned it all. this made my tank almost look brand new for about 2 weeks though.. then algae came back.

im about to get a couple algae eater plecos today, ive read brown algae means you dont have enough plants to eat the nitrate or whatever it is. its very annoying cause i wanted a heavily planted tank, most of my plants died and the brown algae is killing even my hardy plants that survived all this time slowly. maybe regular weekly water changes will help. ive been straying away from weekly water changes for awhile cause i hear once you get a tank established you shouldn't have to constantly water change so that might be something that doesn't help.

i feel fish are easy to take care of so far after about 6-8 months of being new but the plants are such a struggle. i also would love i have a small 10-15g tank id love to fill it with plants and have a shrimp/small fish ecosystem in it but im very hesitant in starting it untill i figure out the plant side of things.

thanks for reading or for any other tips

 

[Aiken Drum]

Regular water changes will help. Brown algae feeds off nitrate and phosphate, regular water changes will keep these down.

Brown algae likes low light, so turning up the lights will help promote green algae that will outcompete brown algae and is easier to control.

Plecos arent the best brown algae eaters. They will eat it if there is no other food, but its not their preference. Otocinclus and nerite snails would be a better choice. I had 3 otos completely clear a 15 gallon tank of really bad brown algae in under 24 hours.

 

[huma-huma]

The age of a tank doesn't determine necessity/frequency of water changes. That needs to be based on individualized testing/tracking. Just going off your info here its 100% a trate/phosphate problem. Get some testing done, figure out what your nitrates are at then you can formulate a plan. We had brown algae starting to rear its head in our 125 so I went no light for several days and then gravel vacd out the problem areas and slowly added light back. Seems to have worked. Its much easier just to establish a solid weekly wc routine now and it'll become habit quickly (I've got a wc tomorrow now that I think of it)

 

[bulatz]

Nice sounds like I'm gonna get me some otos and ya I haven't been testing my water for awhile which I definitely will now I'll have to clear out all my dead plants wasted like $60 lol. Thanks for tips as always.