brown algae on my plants

[donkey]

Hi all
some of my plants are starting to grow some brown algae on them .the tank has only been set up for about a month .the tank is a 50x18x15 and it has 2 four foot tritons over it . ( hope this is ok for a 18 inch high tank ) the plants are growning well but i dont know why this brown algae is starting to grow on some of the plants .

 

[tstenback]

brown algae is very common in newly established tanks. those up to about 3-4 months old. I usually just let this stuff die off by itself except when it gets on the plants. I take the leaves of the plants between my fingers an gently pull my fingers along the leaf to remove the stuff cause the plants need the light and this stuff does block the light. It is often associated with low or blocked out lighting. Do you have any floating plants that are blocking out most of the light? If you do try to coral these to one end of the tank and let the light shine down in the rest of the tank. HTH

 

[Tednol]

ive got some of that on my plants,
i'm getting ottos soon, will they clean it up,
or will i have to shove my hand in AGAIN.lol

 

[Silly me]

also two four foot light is 40watts each.. thats 80 watts and it looks like you have a 60gal tank, that is low light and makes it really hard for the plant to compete with brown algae.

 

[donkey]

so how many more lamps would i need to add ?

 

[Silly me]

if its 60gal then 4 tubes should be 160watts that would be great..

 

[donkey]

thanks Silly me
not sure if i have the room to get four lights in the hood .but i could get three in .so i was thinking about three 54 watt tubes instead

 

[Silly me]

just as good..

 

[donkey]

thanks all