Brown algae in gravel

[AmyKieran]

I have brown algae in the gravel only at the front of my tank. I own a bristlenose pleco which seems to help but not entirely remove it, any advice on this?

Thanks

 

[Byron]

I have brown algae in the gravel only at the front of my tank. I own a bristlenose pleco which seems to help but not entirely remove it, any advice on this?

Thanks

A photo will help. Do you mean on the glass along the substrate level, or on the substrate itself? Algae is normal in any healthy aquarium, as is algae on the glass which the aquarist must deal with. "Problem" algae is handled differently from normal algae.

 

[AmyKieran]

A photo will help. Do you mean on the glass along the substrate level, or on the substrate itself? Algae is normal in any healthy aquarium, as is algae on the glass which the aquarist must deal with. "Problem" algae is handled differently from normal algae.

I will attach a photo when I can, I’m out at the minute. There is no algae on the glass just on the actual substrate (gravel) at the bottom but only at the front of the tank

 

[Byron]

I will attach a photo when I can, I’m out at the minute. There is no algae on the glass just on the actual substrate (gravel) at the bottom but only at the front of the tank

The photo will help, I'll wait for that.

 

[AmyKieran]

The photo will help, I'll wait for that.

Okay I’m at hospital at the moment but will send one later, thanks for your help, I don’t suppose you could offer any help on my other thread in fish emergencies?

 

[Byron]

Okay I’m at hospital at the moment but will send one later, thanks for your help, I don’t suppose you could offer any help on my other thread in fish emergencies?

I found the thread and looked at the photos, but I cannot tell. Some of our members who are more experience with these fish may be able to advise.

 

[AmyKieran]

I found the thread and looked at the photos, but I cannot tell. Some of our members who are more experience with these fish may be able to advise.

Okay thankyou anyway

 

[AmyKieran]

The photo will help, I'll wait for that.

I have attached 3 photos to this message, two of them show the algae at the front of the tank. One shows gravel at another place in the tank

Thanks

 

[Byron]

OK, that is nothing at all to fuss over. Algae is normal and in a healthy aquarium will be present. Nutrients feed it, and light allows it to photosynthesize. I am assuming there are no live plants here, as the ones in the photos seem to be artificial, so algae is bound to take advantage of the food and light.

This is nowhere close to be "problem algae." You could get some floating plants to shade the lower tank and this would slow it by using not only the light but nutrients faster. Or you could reduce the light duration (possibly intensity as well). Regular (weekly) substantial water changes, cleaning into the substrate well, keeping the filter clean, not overfeeding (or overstocking) will all limit nutrients and thus algae.

 

[AmyKieran]

OK, that is nothing at all to fuss over. Algae is normal and in a healthy aquarium will be present. Nutrients feed it, and light allows it to photosynthesize. I am assuming there are no live plants here, as the ones in the photos seem to be artificial, so algae is bound to take advantage of the food and light.

This is nowhere close to be "problem algae." You could get some floating plants to shade the lower tank and this would slow it by using not only the light but nutrients faster. Or you could reduce the light duration (possibly intensity as well). Regular (weekly) substantial water changes, cleaning into the substrate well, keeping the filter clean, not overfeeding (or overstocking) will all limit nutrients and thus algae.

Thanks for the response. My light is on maybe a couple of hours a day but I heard that I couldn’t have any form of live plants as the African cichlids will just destroy it? My regime for cleaning is changing at least 30% of water weekly and fully clean my filter every 3 month. I feed two frozen cubes of different types of cichlid foods (Malawi mix, shrimp, spinach etc) every other day. Does all of this sound ok to you?

 

[Byron]

OK, that is nothing at all to fuss over. Algae is normal and in a healthy aquarium will be present. Nutrients feed it, and light allows it to photosynthesize. I am assuming there are no live plants here, as the ones in the photos seem to be artificial, so algae is bound to take advantage of the food and light.

Thanks for the response. My light is on maybe a couple of hours a day but I heard that I couldn’t have any form of live plants as the African cichlids will just destroy it? My regime for cleaning is changing at least 30% of water weekly and fully clean my filter every 3 month. I feed two frozen cubes of different types of cichlid foods (Malawi mix, shrimp, spinach etc) every other day. Does all of this sound ok to you?

Generally, yes. You could still try floating plants; even if they eat them, they would not be able to "dig them up."

I would increase the volume of the weekly W/C however, to 50%-60%. Do a good dig into the substrate at each.

 

[AmyKieran]

Generally, yes. You could still try floating plants; even if they eat them, they would not be able to "dig them up."

I would increase the volume of the weekly W/C however, to 50%-60%. Do a good dig into the substrate at each

Okay thankyou, I’m really sorry to bother you but you have helped me a lot even in previous posts in the past, but I have included several photos of my red top hongi, it gets chased around a bit by the red jewel in the tank and I’ve noticed slight damage to the side of the fish. Could you please give me any advice on this?

 

[Byron]

Generally, yes. You could still try floating plants; even if they eat them, they would not be able to "dig them up."

Okay thankyou, I’m really sorry to bother you but you have helped me a lot even in previous posts in the past, but I have included several photos of my red top hongi, it gets chased around a bit by the red jewel in the tank and I’ve noticed slight damage to the side of the fish. Could you please give me any advice on this?

These are cichlids, and cichlids are well known for aggression depending upon the species. The cichlid experts can best advise, I will not guess when it comes to fish as that can make things much worse.

 

[AmyKieran]

These are cichlids, and cichlids are well known for aggression depending upon the species. The cichlid experts can best advise, I will not guess when it comes to fish as that can make things much worse.

Okay thankyou anyway I’ll put a post on tropical discussion