Brown algea, help!

[annnie]

hi all.

There is this rust looking stuff on my plants leaves and spots on the tank.
i looked this up on the net and apparantly it is brown algea? and that it is harmless and will eventually go away.

However its killing my plants!. my Corkscrew Val is loosing leaves to this "rust", my java fern doesnt seem to be affected by it and my Hygrophila Polysperma's are the worse hit by them. All of their leaves r covered except for the few newest top ones. I also cant rub this rust off of the leaves as easily as i could a couple of days ago, actually i cant rub it off at all because the leaves feel so thin and weak due to the rust.

does anyone know how to get rid of it or shed any light about this "rust"



p.s i also just bought a wonderful anubius on driftwood today and if i find this rust on it.. game on algea!

 

[joy13]

If it is a new tank it is probably diatoms and will actually burn itself out. If it black beard algae it will be harder to get rid of but with more water flow, and reduced bioload. Are you dosing fertilizers?

 

[oneball]

hi all.

There is this rust looking stuff on my plants leaves and spots on the tank.
i looked this up on the net and apparantly it is brown algea? and that it is harmless and will eventually go away.

However its killing my plants!. my Corkscrew Val is loosing leaves to this "rust", my java fern doesnt seem to be affected by it and my Hygrophila Polysperma's are the worse hit by them. All of their leaves r covered except for the few newest top ones. I also cant rub this rust off of the leaves as easily as i could a couple of days ago, actually i cant rub it off at all because the leaves feel so thin and weak due to the rust.

does anyone know how to get rid of it or shed any light about this "rust"


p.s i also just bought a wonderful anubius on driftwood today and if i find this rust on it.. game on algea!

Good luck. I've been fighting brown algae for a year and it's only getting worse. Only thing I've read that I can think of being me issue is bad light. The room is usually really dark and the only light the tank gets is the light on the tank. I just hope my new tank doesn't have the same problem( tons of natural light, might have the opposite effect green algae lol)

 

[oneball]

However! When you beat that algae please let me know what you did lol

 

[jsoong]

If it is killing your plants, it is prob not diatoms. Diatoms are loose & easily brushed off. You can usually siphon them off the leaves. If it it killing the plants, it is prob stuck on tight ... this is prob BBA or BGA (aka red slime algae).

I had that for a few years & it is a bear to get rid of. ATM, I am fighting it to a draw, so by no means is my method a success.

What I am doing is:
Make sure there is adequate water movement - my return pump is 750 gph - this algae thrives in stagnant water.
Make sure the CO2 level is stable - adaquate water flow if not doing CO2, otherwise you have to control your CO2 injection.
Add KNO3 - help the plants to outcompete the algae - the algae is nitrogen fixing so will outcompete your plants if the NO3 level is low.
Add Fluorish Excel - I have Vals/hornwort, so can't use the full dose. People have had success killing all algae with an overdose. But using it at half dose, I am keeping the algae at bay.
Make sure I have lots of fast growing stem plants - help to outcompete the algae.
I manually clean the algae off the leaves of my slow growing plants with a scrubbie weekly ... otherwise the plant gets smoothered.
Manipulate your light cycle - BBA & BGA can survive a blackout for up to 2 weeks (tried that on a smll experimental tank). Right now my experimental tank is on a 6 hr on/18 off regime & is totally algae free. Some people also reported that cutting the light out for a couple hours midday will also control the algae. So it seems very bright light for shorter time will keep the plants happy & algae dead.
Erythromycin is supposed to kill BGA ... have not tried that as I hate using anti-biotics in the tank - risk to the biofilter, risk of resistant organism....

 

[annnie]

thanks for the advice!!!

to joy13: it is a new tank, finished cycling last week. and i do use fertilizers that are phosphate free.

to oneball: Goodluck with your battle!

jsoong i'll have a go at your method, i believe i have a pretty good water movement atm, i dont use CO2 because my plants r "easy" haha but i am concidering it. im using a fertilizer thats not fluorish because it was cheaper but does it really make a difference?. and i'll try reduce my lighting because i keep it on pretty long maybe 12-14 hours on a day. Oh and "strong light" how many watts would that be?.. my tank is 30L (7.9 gallons) and my light is 15 watts. i remember reading something about 1 or 2 watt to 1 gallon but im not exactly sure if thats enough.

thanks again

 

[jsoong]

Flourish Excel is not a fertilizer per se ... it is an organic carbon substitute. <Instead of using injected CO2, you add Excel.> It is a reactive intermediate compound in the photosynthetic pathway & has the side effect of killing algae <plus any plants lacking stomatas.>

Many of us use Excel as algae control with good result. Although I must admit that it is not solving the "root cause".

You have low/medium light ATM. Cutting it back too much might stunt plant growth, but so would the algae. My experimental tank is 5 gal with a 13W CFL & 6 hrs seems to be good, although growth is much slower than my main tank, there is not a spot of algae. I am slowly dialing back the light interval on my main tank to see if I can match the result. <No algae, no Excel, no ferts, no work.> I would suggest you cut back your light cycle to 10 or maybe 8 hrs to see if it make a difference. <Maybe trying a midday break - 4-5 on, 2 off, 4-5 on.>