voiceless_kat

The tank that has the cories and oto in has some brown algae showing up in the substrate. OtoC eats most of it, also off the plants (silk). Am I right that it could be started from the bits of algae disc that I put into that tank for OtoC to eat?

In Wink Jack Sparrow's 10g, I noticed tonight that there is some bright green algae on some of the decorations and a tiny bit on the substrate. I am going to be getting an Oto for that tank also.

What is the difference between the two kinds, what causes them?

Wink JS is alone, and I usually pull all his decorations out and scrub them when I do the tank every week - hopefully that can stop when his oto gets put into it.

Neither is problematic yet, in fact the green looks kinda nice ()

thanks for whatever help given. Val

Chief_waterchanger

We've left a blanket of green algae in one of our shell-dweller fish tanks for the babies to feel safer, it can be fun.

There are several factors that could be at play here.

-to much lighting
-over feeding of phosphate rich foods

Those are the two that are most common, I believe. I am not nearly as versed on algae and causes and ways to rid oneself of it as people like MrWaxhead and Dino. We either pull it out or decide it looks good and leave it. (but we are in a unique situation with all natural lighting from the clear roof of the fishhouse, with you being inside there are probably things you can do to eliminate it from tanks you do not wish it to be in.)

armadillo

Hi Val, well if The Chief is not well-versed on algae, am totally illiterate on the subject, but here's my VERY modest 2-cents based on the ones I've experienced that sound like what you're describing:

- brown algae: often in newer tanks, will go away off its own accord. strongly encouraged by phosphate excess.

- green spot algae: in more mature tanks (about 3 to 6 months?). I find it IMPOSSIBLE to get rid of. Otos and BNs etc. won't touch it. It's a matter of elbow grease I believe. I think the chinese algae eater eats these actually, but they're supposed to be real stinkers aggression-wise.

- green algae: phosphates, nitrates and lights can cause it. Most BN plecos or otos should eat it although mine totally ignore it.

If you're REALLY sick of it, you could always totally cover up your tank under a blanket or something for 3 days or so. Do make sure there's still some air coming through on the surface somehow, though. I heard that worked great. That and the old elbow grease.

Chief_waterchanger

Ms. Dillo is right.

The blanket thing is a good thing to do, as long as you ensure it is not so thick that it traps heat in, causing your fish to slowly roast. 3 days of that would surely be less than healthy.

voiceless_kat

I just got a phosphate testing kit today. I will test the tanks tomorrow. I know Neptune's tank for sure must have that, it gets some light from a window. I cleaned the whole tank yesterday, took the silk plants out and scrubbed them, and today see the brown algae back on the leaves of the silk plants.

I put one of his plants from yesterday in with the cories/oto and I see part of the leave is getting cleaned off. So I will give OtoC another day of work.

Winks tank, with the green, has it on the ornaments. Oddly enough, that tank had a kinda cloudy look to it no matter what I did - water changes each week, scrub decorations; wipe down inside walls with algae brush - then yesterday it suddenly looked perfectly clear , and still is. I wonder if that was the algae bloom I have read about?

I leave the lights on from about 9 am - 9 pm - is that too long? My ntrates are around 10 on all the tanks. What causes high phosphates?

It doesn't feel out of control yet, so don't think I would do a blanket wrap. I would rather manually clean it. I am getting an couple of otos to go into Wink's tank, but I want to wait until quarantine period is up on teh 55 ( next Wed) incase Wink hates them and decides to be mean and/or get all stressed out. Right now he is pretty full of himself having a 10g all to himself!

Thanks for your advice, if you are reading this again, please try to answer questions in bold.

And what is your take on the algae tablets being th culprit of the brown algae??

Val

Chief_waterchanger

I am unsure if algae tablets would cause the algae, but brown algae seems to happen in a lot of tanks as they are just being stocked. For the first 1-3 months I think. It will go away on its own, or you can keep cleaning it until goes away.

The cloudyness I guess could be the algae bloom you read about.. Again, I don't know much on the scientific side of it, our stuff is so naturally lit that the algae goes away on its own usually.

Unsure on the lighting thing also, hopefully someone more knowledgable about that topic will come along soon.

armadillo

I know that I've pretty much systematically had brown-patch algae in all my newish set-ups. It starts a couple of weeks into it, and lasts a couple of months. After that, I scrape it off and it doesn't come back.

I've heard that if hte problem is longer-term, it could indeed be related to phosphate excess.

pistorta

Phosphates can be found in your tap water. They also come from some foods and activated carbon. You can purchase phosphate removal media for canister filters and/or phosphate reactors.

armadillo

Yeah, it depends. Some tapwater is quite bad, but ours is OK. Plants eat phosphates too, so that helps.

voiceless_kat

Neptune's tank tested phosphate 2.0 today. He has mostly the brown algae that gets on the silk plants and stains them and a bit on the walls of the tank. I am getting him a clown pleco soon as I get another cave for it to hide in. I haven't tested the rest of the tanks.

The cory tank seems to be the worst, with it on the substrate, and that is the one with the oto. It isn't horribly bad, but stains the silk plants and I can't get that off.

Any ideas? It was that tanks cleaning day today, so it is all gone, and OtoC got a stern scolding for not doing a better job, and just lounging inside his log and peeking out!!

Val

armadillo

Do you have a lot of real plants in the tank too? That can help. As can a bit of current, I find, but that's not a good idea with a betta.

I have an oto crew in one tank that are doing a great job, while the other guys are sooooo lazy!

voiceless_kat

I have a small Java Fern in the cory soon -to- be- Tiny's tank - just bought it on a whim at Walmart ( they rarely get them in) and it has really taken off. The tank is an eclipse, so it has the bio wheel and there is water movement.

Neptune's tank has one of those bulbs in it ( Lotus or lily) another thing I bought on a whim about 10 days ago. I threw it into his tank, and when I was cleaning on the 9th went to move it ( it looked like it was sitting on top of the substrate) there were 3 leaves on it. When I pulled it, it was rooted into the tank. The stems reach the top of the tank and have a lily pad kind of leaf on it. I uprooted it an put it at the back of the tank. I almost can see the leaves grow for the surface once they start. I am not sure I like it there, but he doesn't mind. it is burgundy.

I have heard about a different oto, called a Mountain Stream or Rubber pleco, that I might consider for his tank. Apparently they are eating machines also. Even more so than the clown pleco, although about 1 inch longer at adult.

The silk plants in Neptune's tank are covered again, with the brown algae, after being taken out and scrubbed on the 9th. Seems pretty fast to me.

Anyway, I did get some "logs" ( ceramic, look like a fallen tree with a "branch" hole in it - OtoC likes his a lot) so am putting one into Wink's Tank, one into Neptunes Tank, and I got a larger one for the 55g. We'll see what happens!

sirdarksol

In response to "where do phosphates come from..."
Originally, phosphates come from rock-form phosphorous. Plants then take this substance and use it in growth.
Rotting plant material releases phosphates. I believe that animals also possess a certain amount, but I'm not positive about that.
So, long story short, yes, your algae wafers could easily be adding to the algae problem in your tank. As they rot (and, for that matter, as they are digested by the animals, I would bet), they turn into phosphorous. In my opinion, living plants are your best bet to lower the phosphate amount in your tank (and it sounds like you're already working on that).

nickparsons2007

hi everybody, i have a 100 ltr tank that had an algee problem, i put a few extra plants in, reduced the amount of lighting the tank was getting and a little less food for the fish. I clean the glass every 2 weeks which seems to be enough. water change 15% a week, and the algee is getting less and less. My advice is to try suttle changes untill you control it. Less stress to the fish then.
3 discus (pigeon blod)
8 rummy nose
2 bristle nose
lots of amazon type plants