Brown Algae

[wake]

I left on vacay and let brother feed fish and do water changes.  
 
I came back on my tanks have brown algae all over them, water temp in 74, ammonia 0, nitrite .25, nitrate 30.   Not sure what it is or what to do?

 

[BaylorPerez]

more or less do a water change, change the filter and clean off the algae areas with a unused sponge if you dont have an algae eater already in the tank, give it a few days and it should clean up some of the algae along with wafers

 

[Akasha72]

Hi wake,
the nitrite needs to come down to zero so a water change is in order. Please do not change your filter media. This will put your tank into cycling again, You could just wipe off the algae with a scourer or if you have space and no preditory fish you could add something like otocinclus - they love to graze on brown algae. You could also try a snail such as the nerite snail which loves to graze on algae aswell. Snails do not count in your stocking levels 

 

[Far_King]

What Akasha says is spot on.
 
If your tank is acrylic be careful using a scourer though as some can mark the tank.  A gentle rub with a sponge will be enough at the same time as doing a water change.

 

[Akasha72]

thanks Far_king .... I never thought of the possibility of an acrylic tank. Well remembered

 

[Far_King]

I found out the hard way 

 Thankfully it was a cheap and small tank which I will keep and only use in the most dire of emergencies.