What Causes Brown Algae?

What causes brown algae? my tank is being covered with brown algae and if I do a water change to get rid of most of it it just comes back in a couple of days

 

What causes brown algae? my tank is being covered with brown algae and if I do a water change to get rid of most of it it just comes back in a couple of days

Maybe this will help: https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/algae-problems-and-how-to-deal-with-them.188662/

 

Excess nutrients usually provided by lighting, over feeding or not gravel vaccing the substrate.

Increasing the oxygen with an awesome or sponge filter helps keep it at bay as well as proper regular maintenance ie; gravel vaccing or scrubbing.

You can also opt to get an otocinclus or bristlenose catfish. They will eat the brown algae although this is to help keep the algae to a minimum as they won't prevent the algae from coming back.

 

Light does not cause diatoms. How long has your tank been set up? I bet less than or around 3 months. Water changes don’t help much because it is attached to surfaces not in the water column.It will run its course. Use a paper towel and wipe the glass Trying to keep it on the towel and not letting float back in the tank.

 

I have brown diatoms on rocks and back of tank going on 8 months. It never goes away for me.

 

Nerite snails love the stuff. My Betta tank is 15 months old and it still grows but the Nerite keeps it under control.

 

The tank is about 4 months old but I’m still having trouble getting it cycled

 

I had brown algae for now 8 months and I just discovered something. My plants did not grow even useing thrive and changing lights. Then this week I bought a TDS meter and wow. My tank was 750 ppm. I started cleaning gravel as I wasn't because I thought planted tanks you didn't need too. My tap water is 140ppm which too me is good. So I put buckets out for rain water and have been changing the tank water with the rain which is 20 ppm. My tank is now just under 500 and I have along way to go. But the light now seems to penetrate everywhere much better. The plants Lready look better. So for me the TDS meter is a must have to tell you perhaps something is wrong. I will add that all other water parameters are always 000.

 

The tank is about 4 months old but I’m still having trouble getting it cycled

Where are you in the cycle? What is your ph in your tap and in your tank?

Diatoms are usually caused by silicates in new setups. They can also be caused by what is in your water. I have diatoms explode every water change in a tank that has been running for over a year, so I'm inclined to blame my source water. There are chemical media to remove them, but they also remove phosphates so they can be a double edged sword.