Algae In My Tank

[Clorey68]

What causes brown algae and what should I do about getting rid of it? I clean my tank every week and scrub the plastic plants and rocks etc. with a mix of bleach and water. I scrape off the algae with a sponge, but it keeps coming back. Someone suggested using RO water. Would this make a difference? I have a wonderful Eheim filter that is working well. I really would like some suggestions? There is something called Chemi-Pure that I was told to buy to try to get rid of the brown algae. Does anyone know about it? Should I try it? My aquarium is 75 US gallons. Thanks for your help.

 

[Bobtastic]

Check out this extremely helpful aglae gude. If helps you identify your particular aglae and the best way to get rid of it.

How old is your tank? Is it fully cycled? Do you perform regular gravel cleaning?

 

[Clorey68]

Check out this extremely helpful aglae gude. If helps you identify your particular aglae and the best way to get rid of it.

How old is your tank? Is it fully cycled? Do you perform regular gravel cleaning?

Hi and thanks for your reply. My tank is 7 years old and fully cycled. I clean the gravel every week when I do a 25% water change. Any comments about this? Am I doing the right things? I am now going to the site you are suggesting. Thanks again, Loretta

 

[Truck]

It's cause is ammonia that is undetectable, increase flow and half the lighting for 2 weeks and things will improve.

 

[Bobtastic]

I was wondering if it was to do with a build up of organic matter letting off ammonia, as Truck says it's caused by ammonia, but if you are doing regular water change and gravel cleans then it shouldn't be that...

Go with whats suggested above to see if it clears it.

 

[Clorey68]

It's cause is ammonia that is undetectable, increase flow and half the lighting for 2 weeks and things will improve.

Thanks so much for your quick response. Actually for one week now, I haven't put on any lights and since I started using the RO water regularly, the brown algae seems to be disappearing. So perhaps I am doing some things right after all. Loretta

I was wondering if it was to do with a build up of organic matter letting off ammonia, as Truck says it's caused by ammonia, but if you are doing regular water change and gravel cleans then it shouldn't be that...

Go with whats suggested above to see if it clears it.

I have been keeping the lights off and keeping up with my routine and I can see that the brown algae is disappearing. Thx so much for your input, I really appreciate it. I will keep you posted. I think the RO water is really helping the situation. Doesn't brown algae like darkness? Loretta

 

[Truck]

If you have plants the RO water will kill them, its no good for your fish either, unless it has RO right added to it.

 

[RadaR]

Plus, what's the point in using RO here?
Diatoms are largely caused by excess light and undetectable amounts of ammonia leaching out from organic matter.
To combat the algae do a combination of water changes and decreasing the photoperiod and/or the light intensity. Tap water contains no ammonia therefore water changes will remove the ammonia (50% water change gets rid of 50% of the ammonia and 50% of the algae spores). RO will also contain no ammonia, but what's the point if tap water can already do that.

 

[AdAndrews]

there will be some ammonia in tap water.

 

[RadaR]

there will be some ammonia in tap water.

Not enough to trigger the algae though. Do you use RO to perform your water changes to reduce the undetectable ammonia and organic matter? Does Clive? I dare say 99% of peeps on UKAPS do not resort to RO to perfrom their water changes because there simply is no need.
Do what you will though.

 

[Clorey68]

there will be some ammonia in tap water.

I have been using tap water in my aquariums for many, many years and never had this brown algae problem before. I always treated the tap water with products to take out the bad stuff. I was told that the water in this house we live in now is far too soft as we have a water softener and that the town puts something into the well water that may be causing the algae. I pay $1.00 for a 5 gallon jug of reverse osmosis water.

 

[Clorey68]

Plus, what's the point in using RO here?
Diatoms are largely caused by excess light and undetectable amounts of ammonia leaching out from organic matter.
To combat the algae do a combination of water changes and decreasing the photoperiod and/or the light intensity. Tap water contains no ammonia therefore water changes will remove the ammonia (50% water change gets rid of 50% of the ammonia and 50% of the algae spores). RO will also contain no ammonia, but what's the point if tap water can already do that.

Please read my answer to AdAndrews. I also bought something called Chemi-Pure and put in the Eheim External Filter. I wonder if this is helping to get rid of the brown algae. I have plastic plants, not real ones and the fish seem fine after doing this for over two weeks. What exactly is wrong with very soft water in an aquarium? I was told at the aquarium store that it is very bad. Thx. Loretta

 

[Clorey68]

If you have plants the RO water will kill them, its no good for your fish either, unless it has RO right added to it.

I don't have real plants, just fake ones. Why is reverse osmosis water bad for the fish? This is what Aquarium Services in Ontario told me to do because we have very, very soft water as we have a water softener. I bought two 5 gallon jugs of this water and just keep going back to the store to get them filled up again. There is no tap water in this aquarium at all, just RO water. The tank is a 75 gallon one. Any other thoughts? Thanks for your help. Loretta

 

[RadaR]

Plus, what's the point in using RO here?
Diatoms are largely caused by excess light and undetectable amounts of ammonia leaching out from organic matter.
To combat the algae do a combination of water changes and decreasing the photoperiod and/or the light intensity. Tap water contains no ammonia therefore water changes will remove the ammonia (50% water change gets rid of 50% of the ammonia and 50% of the algae spores). RO will also contain no ammonia, but what's the point if tap water can already do that.

Please read my answer to AdAndrews. I also bought something called Chemi-Pure and put in the Eheim External Filter. I wonder if this is helping to get rid of the brown algae. I have plastic plants, not real ones and the fish seem fine after doing this for over two weeks. What exactly is wrong with very soft water in an aquarium? I was told at the aquarium store that it is very bad. Thx. Loretta

Chemi-Pure states that it gets rid of ammonia. If that is true, then yes, this is helping you out.
Very soft water isn't ideal for hardwater loving fish like Malawi or Brackish fish. But to be honest, plenty of fish you find in the shops like Community fish such as Tetras etc wont mind the soft water at all. The Amazon is soft. We can measure water hardness in two ways. One is General Hardness (GH) which is a measure of things like calcium and magnesium dissolved in the water. The other is Carbonate hardness (KH). KH has a buffering capacity, in other words, a high KH will prevent the pH from changing quite significantly. Whereas a low KH wont as much. Perhaps the fish shop you spoke to are saying the soft water is bad because you could be prone to a pH crash. Personally I find that to be tosh because I know plenty of people that have a KH of 1 in their tanks and they even inject CO2 with no problem.
Just keep up your weekly water changes and change the filter floss weekly/bi-weekly and you will be fine.

 

[Clorey68]

Plus, what's the point in using RO here?
Diatoms are largely caused by excess light and undetectable amounts of ammonia leaching out from organic matter.
To combat the algae do a combination of water changes and decreasing the photoperiod and/or the light intensity. Tap water contains no ammonia therefore water changes will remove the ammonia (50% water change gets rid of 50% of the ammonia and 50% of the algae spores). RO will also contain no ammonia, but what's the point if tap water can already do that.

Please read my answer to AdAndrews. I also bought something called Chemi-Pure and put in the Eheim External Filter. I wonder if this is helping to get rid of the brown algae. I have plastic plants, not real ones and the fish seem fine after doing this for over two weeks. What exactly is wrong with very soft water in an aquarium? I was told at the aquarium store that it is very bad. Thx. Loretta

Chemi-Pure states that it gets rid of ammonia. If that is true, then yes, this is helping you out.
Very soft water isn't ideal for hardwater loving fish like Malawi or Brackish fish. But to be honest, plenty of fish you find in the shops like Community fish such as Tetras etc wont mind the soft water at all. The Amazon is soft. We can measure water hardness in two ways. One is General Hardness (GH) which is a measure of things like calcium and magnesium dissolved in the water. The other is Carbonate hardness (KH). KH has a buffering capacity, in other words, a high KH will prevent the pH from changing quite significantly. Whereas a low KH wont as much. Perhaps the fish shop you spoke to are saying the soft water is bad because you could be prone to a pH crash. Personally I find that to be tosh because I know plenty of people that have a KH of 1 in their tanks and they even inject CO2 with no problem.
Just keep up your weekly water changes and change the filter floss weekly/bi-weekly and you will be fine.

RadaR, thank you so very much for your reply. I feel so much better now. By filter floss in the Eheim, do you mean the white pad? Does the gravel and the rings have to be changed once in a while also? I have never changed either of these, just the white and blue pads. I have regular cat fish, two clown loaches which have grown to be about 5" long in 6 years and look very healthy. I also have different kinds of gouramis, 2 upside down catfish and an old catfish that makes a noise when taken out of the water. I have had him for 17 years. All in all I have had good luck with fish. I faithfully do the water changes and I must admit, I didn't know that the Chemi-Pure takes out ammonia. Maybe it is this that has stopped the brown algae and not the RO water. Do you think I should keep up with the RO water or go back to the tap water and the products that get rid of chlorine etc.? You seem to be very knowledgeable about fish and I am very interested in keeping in touch with you about my aquarium. I love my aquarium and its inhabitants and would like to get a few more fish too. Any suggestions? I have twelve fish in a 75 gallon tank at the moment. I did have an ID shark that I got as a little baby, but he grew to be about 10" long and I was feeling so sorry for him in this tank, so I gave him to the fish store that I go to as they knew someone with a 300 gallon tank and wanted him. So I hope he is safe and happy now. Thanks again for your input. I am waiting to hear from you again. Sincerely, Loretta