Brown Algea

[baby_6882]

Hi. I have a 55 gallon tank. I have a brown algea problem. It is taking over my tank. I have 3 angelfish, 6 cory cats, and 2 mystery snails. My ph is 7. Ammonia is 0. It is planted with fake amazon swords and river rock. I didnt have this problem for the last year now it appeared. Any help? Someone told me to try 4 to 5 ottos and maybe a plec. Another suggestion was a live plant or two. I dont know the other testing stuff. I was told my nitrate was too high. What do I do? Please help me.

 

[paul_219]

Yeah i guess ottos will get rid of them. They are gr8 algea cleaner.

 

[SJ2K]

Fish/Inverts/Scrubbing usually does the trick.

 

[mark.w.jones]

Guaranteed and simplest cure:

Plant live plants across 50% of your substrate. yes 50%. Sounds a lot but live plants are great at absorbing all the excess nutrients which cause algal growth. For simple to grow plants click the link in my sig. Fast growing species are better as they will more easily outcompete algae for nutrients.

Bomb proof fast growing algae busting plants:

Thai onion bulbs.
Dwarf Ambulia.
Cryptocoryne Wendtii.
Hornwort.

Combine these with a good liquid fertiliser like Seachems Flourish and either a liquid CO2 solution like Seachems Flourish Excel or a basic fermentation system. These will create ideal conditions for fast plant growth.

Just a thought but how much, what and how often are you feeding?

 

[baby_6882]

I feed with regular flake food 1 pinch twice a day. I nguess it would be a medium size pinch.

 

[mark.w.jones]

OK, that's a bit too much food and not really enough variety. I would advise you get a number different foods for your mid dwellers ie. a few different makes of flakes, pellets, algae flakes etc. Then a couple of different types of sinking foods for your bottom dwellers. Also a pack of frozen live food is a good idea for adding protein to the diet, blood worm and daphnia are popular.

Then feed something different, once a day. Just enough food that can be completely eaten in under a minute and no more than this. Also, don't feed your fish on one day a week as they will happily graze and scavenge left overs. Cutting your feeding down in this way will help reduce the amount of left overs which will eventually brak down to ammonia.