cutetravis

hey guys, the tank that my female and male betta fish are in had suddenly (eg 2-3 days) had an outburst of algae, it is brown in colour and has white threads coming out of it?
im going in to get a little bristlenose, but dont know if that will help

Isabella

First off, how large is your tank? I'd have at least a 30 gallon tank for a Bristlenose Catfish. Also, what other fish besides the Betta do you have in there? How long has the tank been running?

New tanks often get reddish-brown sort of "algae", which are called diatoms I believe. They go away by themselves, but scraping them off would be good nevertheless. Overfeeding and certain types of lighting may lead to algal blooms as well. If you feed your fish too much, they produce more wastes, and therefore make the water loaded with nutrients for algae to thrive on. Lighting with a lot of blue color in them or even with slight bluish hues can also cause algae.

Having an algae eater would be the best solution, but if your tank will be overcrowded after adding an algae eater to it, it's better not to get it. Also, it's never good to get an algae eater that will grow too large for your tank. As I've said before, I'd recommend at least a 30 gallon tank for a Bristlenose Catfish.

atmmachine816

Bristle noses don't eat brown algae either, mine doesn't touch it.

cutetravis

its only a temporary tank for my 2 betta fish, thats all that is in it, it is 15 litres. ive also got a 35 litre that is stable and a 210 litre that i am going to start cycling in the next week.
the tank has 2 plants in it, a halogen light, not sure how many watts, will check it and get back to you.

atmmachine816

halogen lights I don't think are the right light spectrum and promote the growth of algae, is probably one of the reasons you are having algae growth upon others. Don't buy any fish to remove it as it should go away like Isabella said and is easily removed by you.

Fish Ace

This is not a algae your fish have had a fight.

Gunnie

Brown stuff in a tank is from a fight?