goggles2

i having a slight algae explosion in my 10g tank its the brown chunky kind

im thinking the problem is too much light as i have nearly 2 watts per gallon

i use 2 9 watt flourescents mostly because i have a melon sword plant that requires high light

also could be too much natural sunlight through the window as its fairly close to a window

i cant get otos or anything because my tank is borderline overstocked as is

i have a snail but he doesnt seem to eat much algae\

im not overfeeding my colombian tetras devor nearly every scrap of food and what they miss the snail or catfish get


any ideas on a solution? is there a safe algae reducing chemical or something?

mathas

The first step is going to be to attempt to identify what type of algae you have. There's more than one type that is colored brown, and different types of algae can have different causes.

Try looking at the following sites, and see if any of the pictures match what you have:

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm
http://plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9
http://www.gwapa.org/articles/algae/

Once you have a better idea of what type of algae you're dealing with, you can decide what to do to try and minimize it. The solution may be as simple as just reducing how long you leave the lights on for, or it could require supplementation of some sort.

goggles2

hmmm it really doesnt look like any of those....

closest would be brown diatoms but it doesnt even look like that really

goggles2

oh i also use fertilizer sticks to feed my melon sword

ill try and get some pics

goggles2

ok its gotten ALOT worse i really need advice on this

heres some pics

goggles2

anyone?

goggles2

wow i must of done something drastic because on closer inspection i have itty bitty little white worms on the glass surface itty bitty new baby snails and at least 3 varities of algae now all this within 2 weeks of my last major clean

mathas

For the small worms, look up planaria and see if that looks like what you're seeing.

For the algae, has anything changed lately? Normally, multiple types of algae don't lie in wait and throw a surprise party all at the same time... if you have several types appearing in the same general time frame, it sounds like something is different. More light, less light, new plants, etc. How long are you leaving the lights on each day?

But from the pictures you posted, I would guess brown diatoms. You can either wipe it off yourself or wait for the excess silica in the water to get used up, and it should go away... unless your water source contains enough silica to feed the diatoms.

goggles2

gave my tank a good scrub down today probably killed most of my baby snails and removed one light bulb to cut my wattage in half

hope it stays clean now

goggles2

darn it!

no good i reduced the wattage and scrubbed the heck out of my tank and it still grew back just as bad as before

my lights are on about 8 hours a day and i use a compact fluorecsent

please i need help on this guys nothings working

soldieroffortune1974

Brown algae has to be attacked differently than green algae.ALL brown algae thrives in low light conditions.INCREASING the lighting will help fight it. The INCREASED lighting will cause green algae to start to develop. The green algae and brown algae will basically play tug-of-war with the nutrients along with the plants.There should come a happy-medium,where the brown algae cant grow anymore,and the green algae can't grow anymore,then both types will taper off and eventually disappear.(2 weeks tops and it should be cleared,but you should see it diasappearing within a day or two)

goggles2

so essentiallly dont scrub the heck out of it? let it die on its own?

soldieroffortune1974

You could scrub it off if you choose to,and removing the larger amounts of algae will make it easier for the green algae to bloom,but once it starts dont scrub anymore or it wont have the same effect,and you will be fighting a green algae explosion instead of a brown algae explosion.It takes a balance,as all things in nature do.Once you get that balance right,the rest will take care of itself.

Jess

I have noticed that frequent water changes helps to keep algae under control. My small 10 gal just went through a brown algae bloom. I just wiped it away and kept with at least weekly water changes and I've noticed an improvement.

goggles2

well i went out and bought 3 more java ferns lets see what that does